USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Gazetteer of Hampshire County, Mass., 1654-1887 > Part 20
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The Methodist church at " North Amherst City," was organized March 9, 1849, although Methodist services were held here by Rev. E. S. Potter and others as early as 1842. The church building was dedicated January 1, 1845, though it has been repaired and enlarged twice since, in 1867-68 and 1874- 75. The church is now fairly sustained, with Rev. H. A. Jones, pastor.
The Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Society .- In 1868 a Methodist society was formed at Amherst village, which existed about a year, with Rev. E. Frank Pitcher, pastor. In the winter of 1874, Rev. S. L. Rogers, who was supplying the Methodist church at North Amherst, formed a class at Amherst
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with twelve members, and appointed Cummings Fish, leader. In the sum- mier of 1875 the church was again organized, Rev. S. L. Rogers being the first pastor. The church building, a brick structure, was erected in 1878-79. The present pastor of the society is Rev. John Emerson.
St. Bridget's Roman Catholic church .- Previous to 1869 meetings of Ro- man Catholics in this vicinity were held at " Palmer's Hall," under the min- istration of pastors from Northampton. In that year, however, their present lot on Pleasant street was purchased, and in 1870-71 their church building was erected. The society's first resident pastor, Rev. Francis Brennan, served until the spring of 1878, a period of six years. The present pastor is Rev. Father E. M. Barry.
The Zion Congregational church, (colored) was formed by its first pastor, Rev. S. L. Hobbs, in 1876, though the society had been in existence without formal oaganization since the autumn of 1862. The chapel, on Parsons street, was built in 1868. There is kept up no regularly organized society connected with the chapel, however, those (colored) persons who wish to unite with the church are simply received into the membership of the College. church, which is responsible for the salary of the clergyman in charge of the chapel services, the Rev. D. W. Marsh, D.D., a retired clergyman living in Amherst.
B ELCHERTOWN, in area the largest town in the county, lies in the eastern part of the same, and is bounded north by Pelham, east by Pelham, Enfield and Ware, south by the county line and west by Granby and Amherst. The bounds thus roughly stated include, as we have said, the largest area of any township in the county, and we might also have added among the largest of the state, it being about twelve miles in length, north and south, and five miles in width, thus giving it an area of sixty square miles.
Surface .- The surface of the town is amply diversified, affording many choice bits of scenery and enchanting views. The town is noted for its charming drives, while its salubrious climate attracts many summer residents. In our chapter on the county's geology, page 10, we have given a description of the geological formation of this section, and outlined the causes which carved out the town's present contour. In the northern part the country is broken and rough, often rocky, though the soil is usually good and strong, but not easily cultivated ; while the southern part of the town is more level, with considerable sandy plain. Still, the town is hilly throughout nearly its entire extent.
Settlement .- The territory now included within the limits of Belchertown, Ware and Pelham was early known as the "Equivalent Lands," and was
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noted as an excellent hunting ground. Later on, when settlements had sprung up in the vicinity of Northampton, the highway of travel for these settlers in their visits to Boston or points in the eastern part of the colony, lay directly across these " Equivalent Lands." In what is now Belchertown, near the present Cyrus Bartlett farm, and directly in the course of this high- way, was a copious spring at which the travelers used to stop for rest and refreshment. Thus the section in that vicinity took on the name of "Cold Spring." This name lingered even after settlements had been effected here, and hence the territory of Belchertown, down to the time the town was legally incorporated, bore the name of "Cold Spring."
The title of " Equivalent Lands" was obtained through circumstances as follows : The first grant made of lands in Connecticut by the Plymouth Council to the Earl of Warwick in 1630, and which the Earl soon assigned to Lord Say or Seal, Lord Brook and others. was very indefinite ; the terri- tory conveyed was very imperfectly known. John Mason, as agent for the Colony of Connecticut, in 1661, bought of the Indians all lands which had not been previously purchased by particular towns, and made a surrender of them to the colony. The colonists then petitioned the crown for a charter confirming their rights to the land. In 1662 Charles II. issued his letters patent in compliance with their request, and fixed the boundaries as fol- lows :-
" All that part of his Majesty's Domains in New England, in America, bounded East by Narragansett river, commonly called Narragansett Bay, where the river falleth into the sea; and on the north by the line of Mas- sachusetts plantation, and on the south by the sea, and in longitude as the line of the Massachusetts colony, running from east to west, that is to say, from the said Narragansett Bay on the east to the south sea on the west part, with the islands thereto belonging."
The north line of this grant, as well as of others, was still undefined. Settlements were springing up on the line of the two governments at Enfield, Somers, Woodstock and Suffield, which were supposed to lie within the limits of Massachusetts, and its government accordingly extended its jurisdiction over them, protecting them during the Indian wars. This state of things contin- ued till Indian hostilities had subsided, English settlements multiplied, and the lands attained considerable value, when it became necessary to ascertain the true line between Massachusetts and Connecticut. The survey was made, when it was found that the towns we have mentioned lay really within the limits of Connecticut. Enfield was granted by the general court of Mas- sachusetts to Springfield, in 1648, and in 1670 the court granted Suffield to Maj. John Pynchon. Lines corresponding with these grants placed Somers and Woodstock within the limits of Massachusetts, and this government claimed jurisdiction over them. Connecticut consented to this, upon condi- tion that Massachusetts grant to Connecticut a jurisdiction over an equal ex- tent within its territory as an equivalent. A treaty of this description was carried into effect, and thus it was that a large tract, including the present territory of Belchertown, came to be known as the "Equivalent Lands."
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In 1727 the portion of these lands which was destined to ultimately become the town of which we write was sold by Connecticut to seven persons who resided in Boston and its vicinity, in six equal divisions, as follows : The first division to Paul Dudley, two-thirds, and Col. John Wainwright, one-third ; second division, to John Caswell, one-sixth ; third division, to Col. Thomas Fitch, one-sixth ; fourth division, to Adington Devenport, one-sixth ; fifth division, to Jonathan Belcher, one-sixth ; sixth division, to William Clark's heirs, one-sixth.
In October and November of the same year Col. Timothy Dwight, of Northampton, who had been employed to survey and lay out the territory, completed his task. According to this survey, the purchase included 27,390 acres of land. With the sale of this land, Connecticut transferred her powers of jurisdiction over it to Massachusetts. At the time the town was incor- porated, it had increased its territory so that it had an additional territory to the north of that embraced by Col. Dwight's amounting to 12,000 acres, a part of which has since been taken to make up the township of Enfield.
As a natural sequence, the proprietors once in possession of their lands, they immediately began to look about for a means of procuring their settle- ment. It is very probable that transient settlements had been made, for the section was, as we have said, noted as a hunting ground ; and not only this, but during the summer season it was used by the people in Northampton and vicinity as a place for their cattle to browse, while it abounded in pine trees which were valuable on two accounts-for "candle-wood " and turpen- tine. In Northampton the authorities had early recognized the value of the two latter commodities, and had passed a law that "no candle-wood should be gathered within seven miles of the meeting-house," and "no trees boxed for turpentine within three miles of the same." This would naturally drive seekers of these commodities to more remote places, and hence into the ter- ritory of Belchertown.
The proprietors of course were conversant with these facts, and were not slow to take advantage of the opportunities they offered for influencing settlers to come in. Accordingly they offered gratuitous grants of land to such of the settlers in the older districts as would come on to their tract and make permanent settlements thereon. This proposal was accepted, and several families from Northampton, Hatfield and Hadley moved here in 1731, of whom the pioneers, locating here in July, were as follows : Samuel Bascom, Benjamin Stebbins and a man by the name of Hooker. Later on in the same year Aaron Lyman came on from Northampton, and in 1732 John Bardwell and Jonathan Graves, from Hatfield, joined them.
No records are left of the settlers' affairs down to 1739. and while it is known that the settlement increased but slowly, it is difficult to determine just what the increase was. A petition addressed to the general court in 1737, however, throws some light upon the matter. This petition says they "had twenty families, and more expected soon." They pray the general court to
13*
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grant them a land tax to aid them, for they " are about settling a minister and building a meeting-house." In another petition, dated November, 1738, the petitioners say : " We have agreed with Mr. Noah Merrick to settle with us in the gospel ministry, and pray for the privileges of a township." But Mr. Merrick did not settle here, and in January, 1739, another petition prays for the same privilege. Another petition, under date of November, 1740, says the petitioners are "greatly in debt for building a meeting-house, outside cov- ered and glazed, and a minister settled; we are but twenty families, and owe Judge Dudley and others over {200 for lands for our minster's settlement, and to our minister between f200 and f 300 for salary and settlement. We have sustained preaching five or six years, and have advanced the estates of the proprietors more than our own by settling Cold Spring." This was a prayer for the taxation of non-resident land owners. The names attached to these petitions, other than those mentioned, were John Smith, Ebenezer Bridgman, Moses Hannum, Eliakim Phelps, Joseph Bardwell, Nathaniel Dwight. Abner Smith, Joseph Bridgman, Benjamin Billings, Stephen Craw- foot, Thomas Graves, Joseph King and Robert Brown.
Thus from these petions we deduce the following : A permanent settlement was commenced at Cold Spring in July, 1731; up to and including the year 1736 the settlement had increased to twenty familes ; that in November, 1740, the settlement still numbered twenty families, who had built a church, sus- tained preaching five or six years, and were then greatly embarrassed by debt in consequence thereof.
During the next twelve years, however, the population more than doubled, for in 1752 the town had " more than fifty families." In 1776 the population amounted to 972 souls. The government census reports for each decade from 1790 to 1880 show the population to have been as follows: 1790, 1,485 ; 1800, 1,878; 1810, 2,270; 1820, 2,426; 1830, 2,491 ; 1840, 2,554; 1850, 2,680 ; 1860, 2,709 ; 1870, 2,428 ; 1880, 2,346.
Organization -The first meeting of the settlers of " Cold Spring," held under legislative authority for the purposes of electing precinct officers and for transacting general prudential business for the settlement, was convened April 28, 1740. The precinct organization continued until the legal organiz- ation of the town, twenty-one years later.
As early as 1757 measures were taken to obtain an act of incorporation with town privileges. The settlers had no power to tax non-resident land owners for parochial charges, to pay a minister or build a meeting-house ; that could be done only by special authority from the general court ; this had em- barrassed them from their first settlement. There was a conflicting interest between resident and non-resident proprietors on this subject. Resident proprietors, in a petition dated December, 1754, say they are destitute of a minister and unable to go through with the expense of settling one, and pray for leave to assess a small tax on all lands. This was opposed by non-resi- dent proprietors. By way of remonstrance, February 26, 1755, they say :-
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" This tract was equivalent land and purchased without any conditions or limitations. One-third was sold to persons to bring forward a settlement, but they culled out the best ; their own one-third is in fact equal to all the rest ; yet proprietors (non-resident) agreed to be taxed for meeting-house and min- ister. A meeting-house was built, and Mr. Billing settled. After a long con- troversy and debate Mr. Billing was dismissed. And now the inhabitants petition for a tax to settle another. We think this unreasonable, as we were not obliged originally to pay anything, and pray that no power be given to raise a tax."
This remonstrance prevailed, and no tax was then granted. A similar pe- tition was made to the general court in 1756. In January, 1757, the power was given by the legislature, and a tax of half a penny per acre was assessed. This greatly relieved and encouraged the people.
The greatest obstacle in the way of the prosperity of the place, and which was most embarrassing to the settlers, was this inability to tax the property here for the support of their religious institutions, making that support unequal and troublesome. So long as that inability existed they were not successful ; lands were not taken, population was stationary and the people discouraged ; when the difficulty was removed and power given for a general tax, the people prospered.
At a precinct meeting held December 29, 1760, a committee was appointed to present a petition to the general court for an act of incorporation as a town. In March, 1761, it was presented, and on June 23d an act was passed incorporating the town under the name of Belchertown. A warrant was issued by the general court for calling the first meeting, and appointing Eleazer Por- ter, Esq., to warn the same.
The name Belchertown was given in honor of Jonathan Belcher, whom we have mentioned as one of the original proprietors. He was a prominent man, having served the province as governor from 1730 to 1740.
Pursuant to warrant authorizing the inhabitants to convene for organization and election of officers, a meeting was held September 30, 1761, when the following list of town officers was elected: Nathaniel Dwight, moderator and clerk ; Dea. Aaron Lyman, Lieut. Abner Smith and Joseph Bridgman, select- men and assessors; Nathaniel Dwight, treasurer; Joseph Graves and James Walker, constables and collectors ; Sergt. Hezekiah Root and Sergt. Daniel Smith, wardens; Joseph Smith and Israel Cowles, surveyors of high- ways; Joseph Bardwell and Moses Hannum, tythingmen ; Benjamin Morgan and Ebenezer Warner, fence viewers; Lieut. Abner Smith, clerk of the market ; Joseph Bridgman, sealer of leather ; Benjamin Morgan, deer-reeve ; and Caleb Clark and John Cowles, hog-reeves.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
In the early records the following namnes are met with frequently, and hence may be looked upon as the fathers of the town : John Smith, Joseph King, William, Samuel and Moses Hannum, Abner Smith, Benjamin Stebbins,
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Ebenezer Warner, Moses Warner, Thomas. John and Jonathan Graves, Ben- jamin Morgan, Ebenezer Bridgman, Joseph Bridgman, Samuel Bascom, Hez- ekiah Root, Robert Brown, Stephen Crawfoot, Israel Towne, Benjamin Bil- lings, Thomas Graves, Walter Fairfield, Nathan Parsons, Eliakım Phelps, Joseph Bardwell, Israel and John Cowles, Thomas Brown, Nathaniel Dwight, Daniel Worthington, James Walker, Elihu Lyman and Aaron Lyman.
Of the distinguished ones who have been born here may be mentioned Ethan Smith, an able divine and theological writer ; Erastus Worthington, politician and lawyer ; Samuel Stillman Greene, able teacher and author ; and Josiah Gilbert Holland, distinguished journalist, author, poet.
John Smith was the son of Joseph Smith, and grandson of Joseph Smith, who came from England and settled in Hartford, Conn., about 1651. He married Elizabeth Hovey, of Hadley, in 1709, and removed to Hatfield in 1711, where he was chosen deacon of the church. He settled in Belcher- town in 1736, and was chosen first deacon of the church at its organization in 1737. He was a prominent actor in the religious and civil affairs of the town, and was authorized by the general court to call the first meeting ever called by legislative authority of the settlers of Belchertown for police pur- poses, raising money to support the Gospel, and for other prudential affairs. The church records say of him : "A valuable man in his day." He died in 1777, at the age of ninety-one years. Several of his sons settled in town.
Dea. Aaron Lyman (formerly spelled " Limon") was a grandson of John Lyman, of Northampton, whose name occurs there as early as 1661. He settled in Belchertown in 1731, and married Eunice, daughter of Nathaniel Dwight, the following year. He was chosen deacon in the church at its organization, and died in 1780, aged seventy-five years. His descendants have disappeared from the town.
The Bridgman family were among the very early settlers of Hampshire county. As early as 1640 James Bridgman appears to have settled in Hart- ford, Conn., and to have moved to Northampton in 1655, where he died in 1676. His children, who lived to adult age, were John, Mary and Martha. John was born in Springfield, July 7, 1645, married Mary Sheldon, Decem- ber 11, 1670, and reared seven sons and six daughters. He died April 7, 1712. His son Ebenezer was born in Northampton, in 1686, married Mary Parsons in 1710, came to Cold Spring in 1732, reared four children, and lived here till he died, in 1760. Joseph, son of Ebenezer, was born in 1712, mar- ried Elizabeth Warner, and had born to him two sons, Oliver, born Decem- ber 28, 1738, and Joseph, born January 4, 1745. The latter married Ruth Wright, of Northampton, June 21, 1770, and reared four sons and two daughters, viz .: Wright, Joseph, Theodore, Mary, Sarah and Jonathan. He died in 1826, aged eighty years. Wright was born June 3, 1772, married Irene Smith, December 15, 1796, and reared nine children, as follows : Wright, Henry, Mary C., John B., Wright, 2d, Porter, Phineas S, Calvin and Helen M. Phineas S. was born June 20, 1815, married Sarah Stebbins, July
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22, 1828, who bore him eight children, as follows : Jane A., Frederick B., Sophronia S., William E., Eugene, Edward S., Frank H. and Arthur.
Nathaniel Dwight was a native of Northampton, and a son of Nathaniel Dwight, who located at Northampton in 1689. His great-grandfather, John Dwight, came from England in 1636, and located at Dedham. Nathaniel settled in Belchertown in 1732, married Hannah Lyman, a sister of Aaron Lyman, and was a prominent man in all civil and religious affairs. He served as a captain in the French and Indian war, 1755-60, was active and useful in the Revolutionary war, and did much to advance the interests of the town. He died in 1784, aged seventy-two years. The family is still represented. A second branch settled about 1775, in the person of Henry Dwight, from Wes. ton (now Warren), Mass.
Eliakim Phelps was born in Northampton, in 1709, and was a descendant of Nathaniel Phelps, one of the first settlers of that place, and of William Phelps, who was one of the first settlers of Windsor, Conn., in 1640. He was the sixth settler in Belchertown, in 1731 or 1732. He lived an honorable and useful life, leaving descendants, and died in the year 1777, at the age of sixty-nine years. For his first wife he married Elizabeth Rust, of Northampton, who bore him six children, and died in 1752, at the age of forty years ; and for his second, Elizabeth Davis, of Springfield, who died in 1778, aged sixty- four years, and by whom he had several children.
John Bardwell was a son of Robert Bardwell, who came from London to Boston about the year 1670. He settled in Belchertown in 1732, and was one of the first settlers. He had three sons, Martin, Joseph and Jonathan, who came with their father. The family has been active and influential, and is still represented in the town. Bardwell village bears their name.
Moses and Ebenezer Warner were brothers, sons of Ebenezer Warner, of Hatfield, and grandsons of Daniel Warner, one of the first settlers of Hat- field, in 1684. Moses, the eldest, was born in 1717, and Ebenezer in 1729. The former married Sarah Porter in 1739, and died in 1759, at the age of forty-two years, leaving descendants. Ebenezer married Dinah Phelps, and died in the year 1812, at the age of eighty-three years. Moses settled in the town about 1747 ; Ebenezer in 1752.
William and Samuel Hannum were brothers, and came to Belchertown with families in 1732. They were sons of John Hannum, and grandsons of William Hannum, one of the earliest settlers in Northampton. William was born in 1690, and died in 1756, leaving three sons. Samuel Hannum died in 1780, aged eighty-eight years, leaving two sons.
The Graves family settled prior to 1735, in the persons of Thomas, John and Jonathan, who came from Hatfield, and were lineal descendants of Thomas Graves, one of the first settlers of that place. Jonathan was born in 1702, and passed his life in Belchertown, dying in 1787 at the age of eighty- six years, leaving descendants. Thomas and John were brothers, and sons of Samuel Graves. The former married a daughter of Isaac Graves, a cousin,
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and died in 1784, at the age of eighty-two years. The latter was born in 1719, and died in 1793, at the age of eighty years. The family is not now represented in the town.
Israel and John Cowles, sons of John Cowles, were natives of Hatfield, and born, the former in 1726 and the latter in 1731. They settled in Belcher- town about the year 1752. Both engaged in the French and Indian war, and went to the relief of Fort William Henry in 1757. Israel died in town in 1797, aged nearly seventy-one years, leaving two sons. John died in 1811, aged eighty years.
The Towne family are descended from William Towne, who came to this country and settled at Salem about 1640. Israel, son of Israel, purchased a farm in Belchertown and settled in 1749, being then twenty-two years of age. He married Naomi, daughter of Benjamin Stebbins, in 1754. He died in 1805, aged seventy-eight years, and his wife in 1827, aged ninety-two years. They left a family of ten children, of whom a number settled in town, and intermarried with some of the oldest and best families. The family is still represented.
Walter Fairfield, a native of Lenox, or Ipswich, was an early settler ; lo- cated about 1742, and died in 1756, aged eighty-three years.
Nathan Parsons settled about 1746, and was a brother of Rev. David Par- sons, the first settled minister in Amherst. He raised a family, and died in 1806, at the age of eighty-six years.
Hezekiah Root was a uative of Northampton, and a lineal descendant of Thomas Root, one of the first settlers of Northampton. He settled prior to 1736, married, and raised a family. His brother Orlando also settled, and died in 1805, at the age of seventy-two years, leaving descendants. Heze- kiah died at the age of seventy-eight years.
Benjamin Morgan settled probably in 1750, passed his life in Belchertown and had three sons, Benjamin, Titus and Gad, and one daughter, Sarah, who married Benjamin Billings. Morgan was the last survivor of those who acted in town at the time of the settlement of Rev. Mr. Forward, in 1756. He died August 21, 1812, aged ninety-three years. His descendants are still represented in town.
Benjamin Billings was born in Hatfield in 1704, and was one of the first settlers in Belchertown. He married Mary Hastings, passed his life in the town, where he raised a family, and died in 1782, aged seventy-eight years.
Stephen Crawfoot, from Northampton, was an early settler, before 1737. He served in the French war from Belchertown, and died in 1765, at the age of fifty-five years.
Daniel Worthington, a native of Colchester, Conn., settled in town in 1753. He was a soldier in the French war, and was out in Capt. Nathaniel Dwight's company for the relief of Fort William Henry in 1757. He died at Woodstock, Vt., in 1830, at the age of ninety-eight years.
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