USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Gazetteer of Hampshire County, Mass., 1654-1887 > Part 31
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27
TOWN OF GRANBY.
resides. His children are Edmund M., Dennison, Norman O., Dolmer F., Delia L. and Sarah E.
Israel Clark, Jr., was the sixth in lineal descent from Lieut. William Clark who came to this country from England, in 1630, and located in Northamp- ton about 1659. Israel was the son of Israel and Sarah (Smith) Clark, was born in Granby, October 15, 1791, married Tibbel Clark in 1822, and had born to him two daughters. He was prominent in the building of the meet- ing-house, and served as an officer of the town for over twenty years. He was a clothier by trade, and owned a farm in the eastern part of the town. He had a saw-mill, a grist-mill and a satinet-mill on Forge pond. He also had a paper-mill on Swift river in Belchertown. He died March 20, 1865.
Phineas Smith was an early settler of this town, and was the first settler on the farm now owned by his grandson, Austin Smith. He married Mary White, of South Hadley, and reared eight children, viz. : Phineas, Irene, Medad, Adolphus, Giles, Calvin, Titus and Chester. Phineas, Jr., married Susan Ayres, and had born to him five children, namely, Cephas, Austin, Alva, Mary and Austin, 2d. Cephas, Mary and Austin all reside at the homestead. Austin married Mary S. Pease, and has had born to him five children, viz. : Susan, Charles A., Willis A., Edwin P. and Robert C. Adol- phus, son of Phineas, was born in this town, married Susannah Ferry, and reared nine children, viz. : Emeline, Giles, Eliza, Finley, Julia, Edwin, Loman, Elliot and Susan. He made the first settlement on the farm now owned by his son, Elliot Smith, and built the house in which he now resides. Elliot married twice, first, Susan E. Hunt, who bore him one child, Edward H., and died in 1873, and second, Lucy Barrell, and has one child, George C.
VILLAGES.
GRANBY, the location approaching the dignity of a village, is located in the central part of the town. It has a store and a postoffice, Congregational church, town-house, high school, and twenty or thirty dwellings.
INDUSTRIES.
With regard to the industries of Granby, little need be said, except that they have been pursued, chiefly in the agricultural line, with patient and con- tinuous application, and rewarded with honest and 'moderate gains. Thirty years ago, in his historical sketch, Dr. Holland, a resident of the town, re- marked that " The manufacturing interest in Granby is limited." It has not grown in importance since that brief summary. Bachelor brook, in the north part of the town, has furnished power for the principal enterprises that have been undertaken. Fifty years ago a woolen factory was established and run successfully for a time, by Samuel Ayres, Jeriel Preston and Levi Taylor, under Mr. Taylor's superintendence. After Mr. Taylor's death in 1849, the business was continued by Ayres & Aldrich. Now, only a grist-mill is run in
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TOWN OF GREENWICH.
the same locality, by Mr. Aldrich. Near the outlet of Forge pond Israel Clark, long active and prominent in town affairs, was engaged in the manu- facture of satinet. The power is now employed by Samuel C. Smith in run- ning a grist-mill and saw-mill. In the early part of the present century an iron-forge was run there by Elijah Kent. About the middle of the present century Frederic Taylor and Anson Brown engaged in the manufacture of paper on Bachelor brook; their mill was burned and was never re-built. In the southeast part of the town, George Carver has a mill for manufacturing reeds, and Henry Carver runs a saw-mill and makes machines for manufac- turing butter.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
The Church of Christ Congregational Society .- The long contest which existed between South Hadley and Granby at the time they formed the south or second precinct of Hadley, regarding the location of a meeting-house, which should equally accommodate each section, resulted in a division and the establishment of a separate church organization in Granby. The original church edifice was erected and the church organized in 1762, and in October of that year Rev. Simon Backus, of Norwich, Conn., and a graduate of Yale college, was settled as pastor. The church was influential and prosperous from the first, but owing to an unhappy difference in reference to the site of a new meeting-house in 1821, a division occurred, and two churches were maintained until 1836. Since the reunion, it has continued to prosper, as a strong and influential Christian body. The present church building was erected in 1822. The society now has 222 members.
The town has been served in the gospel ministry by Simon Backus, 1762- 84; Benjamin Chapman, 1790-96; Elijah Gridley, 1797-1834 ; Chester Chapin, 1822-30 ; Joseph Knight, 1830-36 ; Eli Moody, as colleague with Mr. Gridley, 1530-34, then as pastor of the united churches until 1840; James Bates, 1840-51 ; Henry Mills, 1854-63 ; H. S. Kelsey, 1863-66 ; J. P. Cushman, 1867-70 ; Rufus Emerson, 1871-74; R. Henry Davis, 1875- 78; F. R. Wait, 1879-81; and Fritz W. Baldwin, 1882-84. The present pastor, Pliny S. Boyd, was installed March 4, 1885.
G REENWICH lies in the extreme eastern part of the county, and is bounded north by Prescott, east by the county line, south by Ware, and west by Enfield and Prescott. It is a long, narrow township, nearly eight miles in length, and less than three in width, containing an area of about 14,000 acres.
The town has a pleasingly diversified surface and a fertile soil. It is de- cidedly a valley town, with skirting hills on either side, and drained by the
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TOWN OF GREENWICH.
east and west branches of Swift river, with their affluents, while several ponds lend a decided picturesqueness to the scenery. Into one of these, Moose pond, the east branch discharges its waters. The other ponds are Warner pond, in the north part of the town, Curtis pond, about a mile further south, and Davis pond, southwest of Greenwich Village. The principal elevation is Pomeroy mountain, just north of Greenwich Village, attaining an altitude of about 800 feet. Mt. Liz, south of the Village, attains about the same alti- tude. Cooley's hill, another elevation, is situated near the Enfield line. Added to attractive scenery, Greenwich has a decidedly healthful climate. Many from a distance make it their summer home on these accounts.
Grant, Settlement and Subsequent Growth .- In the well-known Narragan- sett expedition, during King Philip's war, the 840 soldiers who took part therein, were promised, " if they played the part of men, took the fort, and drove the enemy out of the country, they should have a gratuity in land besides their wages." Pursuant to this promise, the general court, on June 30, 1732, granted to their descendants seven townships, each six miles square, which thus gave one such township to each 120 soldiers.
These townships were located in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachu- setts, and were designated as " Narragansett Township No. 1," etc., through the numerals to seven. Of these, Narragansett Township No. 4 was located in New Hampshire. It was subsequently reported that this New Hampshire land was unfit for settlement, and on November 17, 1735, a committee was appointed " to search out better land in exchange."
The land now included within the limits of Greenwich and Enfield was called " Quabbin," a name obtained, it is said, from " King Quabbin," an In- dian sachem, who early dwelt with his tribe near the junction of the two branches of the river, in the southern part of the present town of Greenwich.
The committee appointed to look up another location for Township No. 4, selected Quabbin, which is described as bounded as follows :-
" North by Salem town ; easterly by Lambstown [now Hardwick] ; south- erly by the Equivalent Land ; and westerly by William Reed's land."
In 1737 this territory was surveyed, and found to lack considerable of the allotted six miles square, so additional grants were made, corresponding with the present towns of Chesterfield and Goshen, as we have detailed in the re- spective histories of those towns.
On January 14, 1736, the general court issued the grant of Quabbin to " Narragansett No. 4, especially granting 1,200 acres of it to James Patter- son, Robert Fenton, Edward Miller, James Wheeler, John Patterson, Andrew Turner, Thomas Powers, Arthur Cary, Robert Evans, Robert Carlile, -- Thorp, and -- Holden, to each of them fifty acres for a house-lot, to be laid out by a committee of the general court, and the remaining fifty acres to be included in the general division." These twelve men are supposed to have been actual settlers on Quabbin's territory, and hence to them we look as the pioneers. They were from Brookfield, Connecticut and the North of
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TOWN OF GREENWICH.
Ireland. The conditions of this grant were that they severally dwell thereon with their families for four years, put ten acres under good cultivation, and grant 300 acres to the first settled minister, the same to the second, and an- other for a school lot.
On May 12, 1737, a committee, consisting of John Foster, Shubael Con- ant, Samuel Childs, Samuel Tildake and Ebenezer Mun, was appointed to lay out and allot the land of Quabbin, and were directed to lay out ten acres of land for a meeting house and burying-ground, highways, and a lot of the contents of sixty acres to each proprietor, besides ministry and school lots.
On June 20, 1787, the southern part of the town was incorporated as the "South Parish " of Greenwich ; and on February 15, 1816, the town of En- field was incorporated, reducing the area of Greenwich to its present limits.
Of the early settlement of Quabbin little is deffinitely known. Its first set- tler is supposed to have been John Patterson, as we have detailed in the sketch of Enfield, where we have also given a long list of the early settlers. Families by the name of Gibbs, Hinds, Powers, Rogers and Cooley have also advanced claims to the honor of having furnished the first settler. The records, however, do not seem to corroborate their claims. The name of Thomas Gibbs first appears in the records in 1740. A little later Jeremiah and David Powers appear, together with William Carpenter, Simon Davis, John Rea, John Townsend, Nathan Fiske, Abraham Gibbs, John Harwood and Timothy Ruggles. A little later is found the names of Hopestill Hinds, Benjamin Cooley, James Nevins, James Wright, James Whitcombe, William Rogers, Luke Hitchcock and -- Holmes. These families were prominent in the affairs of the town during the first thirty years of the town's history.
Later, families of prominence have been the Hales, Cutlers, Ayres, Blod- getts, Walkers, Shumways, Davises, Marcys Trasks, Sprouts, Richards, Sears, Blackmers, Vaughns, Roots, Fullers, Haskells, Hookers, Fields, Robin- sons, Douglasses, Jordans, Stones, Warners, Snows, Doaks and Earles.
Elias Haskell was an early settler of this town, caine here from Rochester, Mass., and located on the place where his son, at the advanced age of ninety years, now resides. The latter was born on the homestead, May 28, 1796, married Mary Raymore and has reared four children, namely, Ira D., Elias, who died at the age of two years, Mary, who married E. W. Sanderson, of Northampton, and Harvey T., who died at the age of ten years. Ira D. married Adeline E., daughter of Ezra Ayres of this town, and moved to En- field in 1858, where he has since been engaged in mercantile trade. He has one child, Charles D., who is engaged in the store with his father.
Peter Blackmer was born in Warren, moved to Greenwich at a very early day, and settled on the place now owned by George Wheeler. He married Esther Shepherd and reared ten children, viz .: Roland, who was a promi- nent man in town, having held the offices of treasurer, selectman and others ; Mary, David, Peter, Susan, Esther, Thankful, Asa, Amos and Moses. Amos married Margaret Gray in 1802, lived in the northern part of the town after
275
TOWN OF GREENWICH.
his marriage, and moved to Prescott in 1810. He died April 18, 1823, and his widow died March 7, 1853. His six children were as follows : Mary D., born in Greenwich in .1805; Daniel G., born in 1809; Peter, born in 1811 ; William H., born in 1814; Esther S. and Amos H. The last mentioned is the only surviving member of his father's family, and married Lydia Sanger in 1859. He met with an accident in 1835, which has since debarred him from hard labor. He moved to Greenwich Village in 1869.
James Richard, Jr., was born in Greenwich, South Parish, now Enfield, March 20, 1801, married Priscilla Newcomb, August 22, 1822, and reared nine children, namely, Maria F., Charles W., William W., George H., Sarah J., John W., Mary M., Louise F. A., and Marshall N. Maria F. married A. F. Newcomb, and has two children, Fannie and Charles. The latter married Azubah Powell. William W. married Alice Currier, and has had born to him three sons, all deceased. George H. married twice, first, Julia Stackney, and second, Lydia Newell, and has two sons, Edward N. and Louis H. Sarah J. married Erastus Marsh, and three of their four children are living, James E., George H. and Nellie. John W. married Ann Currier, and only one of their four children is living, namely, Harry. Mary M., born March 7, 1836, has always lived at home. Louise F. A. married Austin Shumway, and has had nine children. Marshall N. married Louise R. Munroe, and four of their six children are living, namely, Fannie L., Lottie M., Gracie and James R. James Richard, Jr., died February 16, 1886, aged eighty-four years, and his wife died November 1, 1881, aged eighty years.
Lorenzo Davis, son of Philip, was born in Stafford, Conn., September 2, 1808, and came with his father to Greenwich in 1811. He learned the car- penter's trade, and helped put up the first shafting in the first cotton mill in Holyoke. He bought four acres of land in 1837, built the house where he now resides, and has continued to add to his farm, until he now has 290 acres. He married twice, first, Sophronia Shumway, who bore him four children, namely, Erasmus C., who served in the late war, in Co. I, Mass. V. I., died while there, Philip S., who died in infancy, Lucy S., who married Henry Pomeroy, and Ellen S. The mother of these children died in 1844, and Mr. Davis married for his second wife, Mary M. Esterbrook, in 1846.
Charles S. Record came to Greenwich Village in 1829, at the age of ten years, was apprenticed to Gen. John Warner, who was at that time engaged in the manufacture of scythes, and worked for him twenty-one consecutive years. He has held various offices of trust, has been town treasurer, road commissioner, and has been constable and collector for ten years. He has been chorister at the Congregational church for twenty-five years, and a member of the said choir for forty-seven years. He married Mary L., daughter of Cyrus Loud, in 1850, and has one daughter, Clara L., born in 1853. The latter married Ambrose E. Walker, of this town.
, Mrs. Selina Morse, is the widow of Jeremiah M., and daughter of Ephraim Thayer, of Dana, Mass., and came to Greenwich Village with her husband,
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TOWN OF GREENWICH.
soon after marriage. Mr. Morse was a shoemaker, and died in this towu in Feb- ruary, 1851, leaving four children, Oscar F., Charles P., Frances E. and Sarah L. Oscar F. was born in 1833, married Sarah j. White, in 1866, and has two children, Arthur L. and Mabel B. Charles P. married Clara Barns, and has two children. Frances married Danie! W. Parker, and has had born to her two children, Frank L. and Charles M. Mr. Parker died in 1875, and Mrs. Parker married for her second husband, Abel O. Parker, and has one child, Webster M. Sarah L. married Eugene Barrows, and died in 1872.
Ezra Alden, son of Festus, was born at Hardwick, Mass., in October, 1851, and came to this town with his parents while quite young. He married Mary Stevens, December 23, 1872, and has had born to him two children, Frederick E. B., born in 1873, and Sarah E., born in September, 1881.
The fluctuations in the town's population may be seen in the following figures : In 1776 it had 890 ; 1790, 1,045 ; 1800, 1,460 ; 1810, 1225 ; 1820, 778; 1830, 813 ; 1840, 824; 1850, 838 ; 1855, 803 ; 1860, 699 ; 1865, 648 ; 1870, 665 ; 1875, 606; 1880, 633.
Organizations .-- On June 20, 1749, an act was passed by the general court incorporating Quabbin into a parish. On the 4th of November of the same year the first parish meeting was held, when the following officers were chosen : Thomas Gibbs, moderator; William Carpenter, clerk; Thomas Gibbs, Jeremiah Powers and David Powers, prudential committee ; John Townsend, William Carpenter and Nathan Fiske, assessors; and Abraham Gibbs, col- lector.
On the 20th of April, 1754, the general court passed an act incorporating the parish into a township with all the privileges belonging thereto, though it included the present towns of Dana and Petersham, in Worcester county, and a large portion of Enfield. The name of the town was given in honor of General Greenwich.
The first meeting for the organization of the town under its new dispensa- tion was held at the meeting-house on Thursday, August 15, 1754, when the following officers were elected: John Worthington, moderator ; Nathan Fiske, clerk ; Jeremiah Powers, James Nevins, Benjamin Cooley, John Rea and John Townsend, selectmen ; Nathan Fiske, Abraham Gibbs and Benja- min Cooley, assessors ; and several other minor officers.
Military .- In the war for independence, the records show that Greenwich performed well its part. Of those who entered the service were the following : David Blackmer, Charles Bruce, Roland Sears, Moses Robinson, Barnabas Rich, Giles Rider and --- Pratt.
In the war of 1812 the town sent out the following : Andrew Harwood, Luther Root, Ezra Sprout, Chester Hale, Daniel Tourtelott, Benjamin Rider, Henry Forbes, Samuel Barton, Daniel Eddy, Ichabod Pope and Kingsley Underwood.
In the late great war Greenwich furnished sixty-three men, a surplus of two over all demands, expended $6,893.29, and loaned the state $3,033.91.
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TOWN OF GREENWICH.
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VILLAGES.
GREENWICH VILLAGE is a thriving little post-village, located in the north- eastern section of the town, on the east branch of Swift river. It is made of several stores, a hotel, the usual compliment of mechanics' shops, etc., and has some very pretty residences. The postoffice was established here about 1807, and Warren P. Wing was the first postmaster.
GREENWICH, or Greenwich Plain as it is locally known, is somewhat smaller than the "Village," but surely is as pleasantly located, near the geographical center of the town. About 1810 the postoffice was established here, and the present postmaster is Eugene G. Kellogg.
HOTELS.
The first hotel in the town is said to have been kept by Dr. Trask, on the " Marcy place." About the same time, however, Timothy Hinds kept one on the old Ayres place, and these two were for a long time the only ones in town. The next prominent place of public resort was kept for a great many years, beginning about the first part of the present century, by Col. Thomas
RIVERSIDE HOTEL
(RIVERSIDE HOTEL, H. M. BROWN, PROPRIETOR.)
Powers, on the old Powers place, at Greenwich Village. It was afterwards kept, either in the same place or on the site of the present hotel, by Edmund Raymore. The present house here, of which we give the accompanying en- 19*
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TOWN OF GREENWICH.
graving, is called the " Riverside Hotel," with Henry M. Brown, proprietor. It is pleasantly situated on the main street, in the midst of a fine maple grove, and is a delightful summer home. It runs a free 'bus to the railroad station, and has a good livery connected.
At the " Plains " is the " Greenwich Hotel," with Edward O. Williams, pro- prietor. This, too, is pleasantly located, and in the midst of a region that is popular with summer boarders.
INDUSTRIES.
In the early part of the century a scythe factory was established at Green- wich Village, by Gen. John Warner. He was afterwards joined by his son-in- law, David Allen, who finally succeeded him in the business. The factory was destroyed by fire in 1858. About 1818, Ezra Ayres, at the old " Ayres place," engaged in the manufacture of pewter buttons. Nathan Powers had a woolen-mill, at an early date, and later Warren P. Wing engaged in the manufacture of " cards" at the village. The first saw and grist mill was built in 1745, by a Mr. Holmes, at Greenwich Village.
S. P. Bailey's lumber mill, at Greenwich Village, is operated by water- power, gives employment to three hands, and turns out about 300,000 feet of lumber per year, and also furnishes considerable material for builders.
M. J. Wheeler's brush and broom factory at Greenwich Village, turns out about 2,500 dozen brooms and brushes per year.
Tourtellott & Walker's saw and grist-mill, on the east branch, has three runs of stones and the capacity for sawing 1,000,000 feet of lumber per year, while they also manufacture shingles and chair stock.
John Powers's saw-mill, located on the outlet of Brown's pond, in the northern part of the town, has the capacity for sawing about 8,000 feet of lumber per day.
The Congregational church .- The church in Greenwich is among the older ones in Hampshire county, established in 1849, and for 137 years has had an honorable record in its relation to Christ's kingdom upon earth. Its first minister for eleven years, was the Rev. Elijah Webster. In 1760 Rev. Rob- ert Cutler became its pastor, and for twenty-six years continued to break to them the bread of life. In 1786 he was succeeded by the Rev. Jo- seph Blodgett, who for forty-three years continued in the pastoral office. The words on his monument : " He was a meek, faithful and holy minister," are without doubt a just tribute to his worth. The Rev. Joseph Patrick was in- stalled his successor and colleague, and continued in faithful service until 1842. The present pastor is Rev. Edward P. Blodgett, who also is in the forty-fourth year of his ministry to this church, being ordained and installed in July, 1843. He has only one his senior in service as pastor of the same church in 'the Commonwealth connected with the evangelical ministry, the Rev. Edmund Douse, of Sherborn. He came a young man directly from
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TOWN OF HADLEY.
his seminary life to this field, and is now past his three score years and ten. During his ministry he has officiated at funeral services among the people, and has followed to the grave more in number than the present population of the town. The organization of the church dates back farther than that of the town itself. Its record i; worthy of note. Its children are scattered from Vermont to Florida and from Massachusetts to Kansas. The great wish of the pastor has been to fit young men and women for service else- where-to enrich churches in larger places. Thus it has sent away neary ten to help others, where it has received one from other churches. And although so many have been removed to the future world, and such drafts made upon it to enrich others, yet, through the grace of God, the names upon its record are more in number to-day than forty years ago. In its early formation and along its earlier history it was blessed with men and women of Puritan stock, who were rooted and grounded in the truth, who in storm and in sunshine held to the faith once delivered to the saints, and who in their lives as well as by their belief were ever ready to vindicate the truth and honor of God.
To what this worthy pastor has thus written we will add, the first church building was erected in 1744-45. The present structure at the " Plain " was built in 1824, and is now valued, including grounds, at $5,000.00. The so- ciety now has 132 members.
There is also a neat Spiritualist church here, built by Henry W. Smith ; but those who we depended on for a sketch of the same failed to send in statistics.
H ADLEY* lies in the central part of the county. and is bounded north by the county line, east by Amherst, south by South Hadley, from which it is separated by Mt. Holyoke, and east by the sinuous course of the Connecticut river, which separates it from Northampton and Hatfield. It has an area of about 17,000 acres.
The surface of Hadley is varied, or rather while it has considerable plain land, it has yet diversity enough to lend a pleasing picturesqueness to its scenery. Along the river the surface is nearly level, and at the village of Hadley spreads to the westward, forming an extensive peninsula, inclosed by the Connecticut on the north, west and south. South and east of Fort river is a considerable table-land, called " Lawrence Plain," whose general surface is from thirty to fifty feet above the river bottoms, and extends southward and eastward to the vicinity of the mountain range. Most of the eastern-central portion of the town consists of rolling land, whose connection with the lower surface to the westward is, for some distance, sharply defined by a low terrace or bluff. Mt. Warner rises from the central part of the northern half of the town. North of
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