USA > Massachusetts > Gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 6
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Berkshire County, originally a part of Hampshire County, was incorporated April 24, 1761, and named from Berkshire County in England. It occupies the western extremity of the State, and is bounded on the north by Vermont, on the east by Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden coun- ties, on the south by Connecticut, and on the west by New York. It has an area of about 1,000 square miles, - not including water sur- faces. Of this territory 104,225 acres is forest. The population, by the census of 1885, is 73,828; and the valuation of 1888 (which is the basis of State allotments for the present year) was $41,732,690. There were assessed in the latter year, 13,519 dwelling houses, 30,- 604 neat cattle, 15,302 sheep, 3,048 swine, and 11,051 horses.
The Taconic and the Green Mountain ranges extend through the county from north to south, presenting many scenes of wild and picturesque beauty. The elevation in the northwest part, of which Graylock is the most eminent peak, is the highest land in the State. The county is drained by the Hoosac, Housatonic, Westfield and Deerfield rivers ; which, with their various tributaries, afford a vast hydraulic power. The valleys through which these rivers run are very fertile, and present inducements and facilities for the construc- tion of railroads in the various sections of the county. The princi- pal lines already built are the Boston and Albany, and its adjuncts, the Pittsfield and North Adams Line, together with the Housatonic Railroad, and the Troy and Greenfield,- the latter now belonging
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to the Fitchburg Railroad line. The latter road in the northern part of the county passes for upwards of four miles under the Hoosac Mountain through a tunnel constructed by the State at an expense of very near $24,000,000; and by this a new and important route has been opened between Boston and the West.
The geological formation consists of calcareous gneiss, Levis lime- stone, Lanzon schists, and Potsdam sandstone. The marble, iron, sand and limestone quarries constitute an inexhaustible source of revenue. The soil of the county is moist and strong, though better adapted to grazing than tillage ; and much attention is given to rais- ing neat cattle and sheep.
The county embraces 32 towns, which are Adams, Alford, Becket, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Dalton, Egremont, Florida, Great Barrington, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Marlborough, North Adams, Otis, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown and Windsor. Pittsfield, on the Housatonic River, is the seat of justice for the county, and contains a court-house and jail. In connection with Hampshire County and three towns of Hampden, this county is entitled to two State senators ; and of itself it has nine represen- tatives.
The following description of the natural scenery of this beautiful county is from the elegant pen of Miss Catharine Maria Sedgwick : -
" Berkshire lies midway between the Connecticut and Hudson. After leav- ing the wide meadows of the Connecticut basking in their rich inheritance of alluvial soil and sunshine, you wind through the narrow valleys of the West- field River, with masses of mountains before you, and woodland heights crowding in upon you ; so that, at every puff of the engine, the passage visibly contracts. The alpine character of the river strikes you. The huge stones in its wide channel, which have been torn up, rolled down by the sweeping torrents of spring and autumn, lie bared and whitening in the summer's sun. You cross and recross it, as, in its deviations, it leaves space on one side or the other for a practicable road. At Chester Factories you begin an ascent of eighty feet in a mile for thirteen miles. The stream between you and the precipitous hillside, cramped into its rocky bed, is the Pontoosuc, a tributary of the Westfield. As you trace it to its home, it dashes along beside you with the recklessness of childhood; it leaps down precipices; runs forth laughing in the dimpling sunshine; and, shy as a mountain-nymph, it dodges behind a knotty copse of evergreen. In approaching the summit-level, you travel bridges built a hundred feet above other mountain-streams, tearing along their deep-worn beds : at the deep cut your passage is hewn through solid rocks, whose mighty walls frown over you. . .. We have entered Berkshire by a road far superior to the Appian Way. On every side are rich valleys and smiling hillsides; and, deep set in their hollows, lovely lakes sparkle like gems. From one of these, a modest sheet of water in Lanesborough, flows out the Housatonic, the minister of God's bounty, bringing to the meadows along its course a yearly renewal of fertility, and the ever-changing, ever-pres- ent beauty that marks God's choicest works. It is the most judicious of rivers. Like a discreet rural beauty, it bears its burdens and does its work out of sight. Its water-privileges for mills, furnaces and factories, are aside front the villages. When it comes near to them, as in Stockbridge, itlingers like a lover, turns, and returns, and, when fairly off, flies past rolling wheels and dinning factories, till, reaching the lovely meadows of Barrington, it again disports itself at leisure. The mere summer visitors to Berkshire know little
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of the various beauties of the Housatonic: to them it is a mere chance ac- quaintance, seen, perchance admired, and forgotten ; but we who have lived in its companionship feel, too, that -
"' Loveliest there the spring-days come, With blossoms and birds and wild bees' hum : The flowers of summer are fairest there, And freshest the breath of the summer's air ; And sweetest the golden autumn-day In silent sunshine glides away.'"
By act of General Court in 1733, the Lower Housatonic Township, eight miles long on the river, and wide enough to make its extent equivalent to ten miles square, was incorporated as the town of Shef- field. The first town meeting -the first west of Connecticut valley -- was held at the house of Obadiah Noble, January 16, 1734 (new style). In the summer of that year the people built a meeting-house ; and the first church was organized October 22, 1735,- Jonathan Hub- bard being ordained as pastor the same day.
This Berkshire region was the hunting-ground of the Mohegan Indians. John Konkapot, the principal among them, lived in the southern part of the present town of Stockbridge, and near a small brook which still bears his name. In 1724, he, together with about twenty heads of families in the tribe, conveyed to the Commissioners of Massachusetts the two townships of Stockbridge and Westfield, which contained what are now the towns of Sheffield, Great Barring- ton, Mount Washington, Egremont, and Alford, the larger part of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, and a great portion of Lee, for £450 in money, three barrels of cider, and thirty quarts of rum. Sufficient of this land was reserved for their dwellings. Small vil- lages existed at about this time in the present limits of Great Bar- rington, Sheffield, Stockbridge, New Marlborough, Tyringham, Pitts- field and Dalton.
In 1735, with the approval of the leading Indians, Mr. John Sargent, who had been a tutor in Yale College, but preferred this work, was ordained as missionary to the Housatonic Indians ; and before the close of the year, forty of them, including two chiefs, had received the rite of baptism. Mr. David Dudley Field, in 1878, marked the spot of their first meeting-house, on what is now the village green in Stockbridge, by the erection of an ornamental stone tower 75 feet in height, with provision for a chime of bells. The remnant of these Indians, after various removes, found a residence in Minnesota.
Bristol County lies on the western side of the south- eastern section of the State, and is bounded by Norfolk County on the north, Plymouth County on the east, Buzzard's Bay and the State of Rhode Island on the south, and by the latter on the west. It has an area of 530 square miles, and contains three cities, - New Bedford, Fall River, and Taunton, - and seventeen towns; these being Acushnet, Attleborough, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton, Easton, Fairhaven, Freetown, Mansfield, North Attleborough, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea and Westport.
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GAZETTEER OF MASSACHUSETTS.
The courts are held at New Bedford and Taunton. The county is entitled to three senators and eighteen representatives in the State legislature. The population, by the census of 1885, was 158,498, composed of 34,802 families, and sheltered in 23,992 dwellings, - increased to 24,053 in 1888. There were 6,021 farmers, 1606 fisher- men, and 82,944 engaged in manufactures. The value of the farin product in 1885 was $3,444,914; of fisheries, $1,325,868; and of manufactures, $52,670,730. The valuation in 1888 was $121,855,- 171.
The numerous branches of the Old Colony Railroad cover the whole county, and especially at the north, as with network, so that scarcely a town is without one or more stations within or near its borders.
There are in the county 98,360 acres of woodland. The Taunton River with its tributaries and several others running southward, furnish many water-powers. Besides numerous ponds there are several large bodies of water within the county lines, -as New Bedford Harbor, about half of Mount Hope Bay, Watuppa Pond, the estuaries of Taunton and Acoaxet rivers, and others in the south and southwest. There are no great elevations of land in the county, the highest being Copicut Hill, in Fall River, whose summit is 355 feet above the level of the sea. Fall River Hill is 259 feet ; Great Meadow Hill and Great Rock Hill, in Rehoboth, are respect- ively 266 and 248 feet; Falmouth Hill is 193 feet; German's Hill, Yarmouth, 138 feet; and Great Hill, in Marion, 127 feet. The geological formation is carboniferous, granitic, and felspathic gneiss. Bog-iron is of frequent occurrence, and bowlders have been scattered by glacial action liberally over the whole county.
The Indian name applied to this region was Pawkunnawkutt, or, by a later spelling, Pokanoket. The first colonists found the Massa- chusetts tribe of Indians, numbering about 3,000, in possession of the northern part of the county; the Narragansetts occupying to some extent the eastern shore of this bay, (though their home was on the western side) ; while the Wampanoag chief, the famous Mas- sasoit, with 3,000 warriors, ruled over all the land from Cape Cod to Narragansett Bay. The first white people to explore this county were Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins; who in July, 1621, started from Plymouth for Mount Hope Bay, to make a treaty with Massasoit. They were guided by Tisquantum, and met with no opposition until they attempted to cross the Tetiquet (Taunton) River, when two Indians disputed their passage; but this ceased when the purpose of their journey was explained.
The first large proprietor in the county was Miss Elizabeth Pool, a lady of fortune and family, who first settled in Dorchester. She bought a tract (known as the First, or Tetiquet, Purchase), embrac- ing the present towns of Raynham, Berkley, and Taunton ; and, as then defined, the plantation of Cohannet was incorporated on the 3d of March, 1639. In 1668 was made the North Purchase, em- bracing the present territory of Norton, Mansfield and Easton. In 1672, the South Purchase, now Dighton, was admitted to the planta-
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DUKES.
tion; and in 1680 Assonet Neck was annexed to the jurisdiction of Cohannet. The lady proprieter of the first purchase found before her as settlers, Richard and Joseph Williams, Henry Uxley, Benjamin Wilson, William Coy, George Hall, George Macy, Francis Doty, and some others. The first mentioned of these has been considered the father of Taunton. At an early period in the settlement, Nicholas Street, whose wife was a sister of Miss Pool, was installed as teacher.
The dealings of this lady as a settler were characterized by the strictest sense of honor and faithfulness. She died in Taunton in 1654, in the sixty-sixth year of her age; where, at a later day, in the burial ground known as "The Plain," a kinsman, John Boland, Esq., erected to her memory a stone bearing a long inscription written by Hon. Robert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Dec- laration of Independence.
Dukes County lies in the Atlantic Ocean, off the south-
eastern shore of Massachusetts, and em- braces Martha's Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands, Noman's Land, and other smaller islands ; the whole having an area of about 120 square miles.
These islands were discovered in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold; and the name Elizabeth Islands was given by him to the northern group in honor of the reigning queen. All were included in the grant to the Duke of York, and in this way their connection with New York began. In 1683 they were constituted a county, and very naturally received the name of the "Duke's County." In 1692, by the charter of William and Mary, they were reannexed to Massa- chusetts. In 1695, Martha's Vineyard, the Elizabeth Islands, and Noman's Land, were separated from Nantucket and made a county by themselves, retaining the name given to the whole.
The first settlement in the county of which any record exists, was Thomas Mayhew's, at Edgartown, in 1642; but there is a tradition of a settlement much earlier. The colonial population was stated at 2,822; but this undoubtedly included the aborigines. During the Revolutionary War the shipping of these islands was almost en- tirely destroyed ; while many of the inhabitants were taken prison- ers, and suffered long confinement in the prison-ships of the enemy. In the war of 1812, the people, on account of their exposed condi- tion, assumed a neutral attitude. The business interests of the county are not " chiefly centred in the fisheries, navigation, and salt manufacture," as formerly. There are several manufactured articles whose product reaches a larger value than that of salt; and the aggregate value of all manufactures in 1885 was $149,071; the value of the entire fisheries product was $112,103; while the farm product was $211.320. There is also some return from investments in navigation; and a considerable income from summer residents. The valuation in 1888 was $3,384,166. There were 1,276 voters; the entire number of permanent residents being 4,135. The families in 1885 numbered 1,218, while there were 2,012 dwelling-houses, - leaving a goodly number for the use of the summer sojourner.
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The variation in population has not been large. In 1870 the number of inhabitants was 3,787; in 1875, it was 4,071; in 1880, 4,300 ; showing a slight falling off during the present decade, - young people and some families going away.
The county has nineteen school-houses, valued at $18,565, and occupied by 585 pupils, constituting five primary, two grammar, and one high school. There are eighteen public libraries, containing about 10,000 volumes; two annual newspapers with weekly issue; and fifteen churches.
The towns embraced in this county -six in number - are Chil- mark, Cottage City, Edgartown, Gay Head, and Tisbury, on Martha's Vineyard, and Gosnold, comprising the Elizabeth Islands. Edgar- town is the county seat.
Dukes County is in the First Congressional District, and First Council District, has one representative in the General Court, and in conjunction with Barnstable and Nantucket counties, one State senator.
Essex County forms the extreme northeastern portion of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ; extending from Revere on the south to the New Hampshire line, and from Cape Ann on the east to Lowell on the west. It is bound on the north and northwest by New Hampshire ; on the northeast, east and southeast by the Atlantic ocean ; at the southern angle by the county of Suffolk; and on the west and southwest by Middlesex County. Its area is about 500 square miles, or 300,000 acres. Of this, about 18,000 acres are water surfaces, and about 10,000 are occupied by the roads.
The county has six cities and twenty-nine towns; the first being Gloucester, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lynn, Newburyport and Salem; and the towns, Amesbury, Andover, Beverly, Boxford, Bradford, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Groveland, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynn- field, Manchester, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, North Andover, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham and West New- bury. Salem, Lawrence and Newburyport are the shire towns. The county constitutes the seventh and part of the eighth Congressional Districts, the fifth and part of the sixth Councillor Districts, and has 22 Representative Districts with 34 representatives.
The population in 1870 was 200,843; in 1880, 244,535; in 1SS5, 263,727. The gain has been principally in the cities and larger towns. The families numbered, in 1885, 59,263; and the dwel- ling-houses, 44,914. The Normal School and other public school buildings numbered 664. There were six incorporated academies; and five of the numerous unincorporated schools owned valuable buildings. Within the county were 299 libraries (including those . of Sunday schools) conditionally open to the public, and contain- ing 601,223 books. The farms numbered 3,609, and the manufactur- ing establishments 3,899. The working capital invested in vessels and other appliances for the fisheries by this county, in 1885, was $4,-
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239,493; and the aggregate value of the products was $3,076,907. The valuation in 1888 was $205,749,203.
The sea-shore of this county is very irregular, having numerous creeks, inlets and harbors, separated by many jagged capes and headlands. The geological formation is sienite, calcareous gneiss, Merrimack schists, drift and alluvium. The surface of the county is uneven, and in many parts, rocky; but by the energy and skill of the people, good crops of the usual New England varieties are gen- erally obtained. The principal rivers are the majestic Merrimack, which enters the county between Andover and Methuen, furnishing vast hydraulic power at Lawrence, and meeting the ocean at New- buryport; the beautiful Shawshine, which unites with the Merri- mack at South Lawrence; the Parker River, on which was established the first woollen-mill of the country ; the Ipswich River, navigable to Ipswich ; and the Bass River, navigable to Danvers Port. The most conspicuous eminences are Powow Hill in Salisbury, Ayer's Hill in Haverhill, Hall's Hill in Andover, Turkey Hill in Ipswich, Bald Pate in Georgetown, and Prospect Hill in Rowley. The flora of the county is unusually varied. The Boston and Maine Railroad, with its subordinate systems, the Eastern and the Lowell railroads, and by numerous branches, and the Boston, Revere and Lynn Rail- road, with the street railroad adjacent, connecting towns and cities, afford excellent transportation facilities.
This region was discovered by Europeans in 1602; the first who are known to have set foot in the county were Edward Harlie and Nicholas Hobson, who landed at Ipswich in 1611. The earliest set- tlers were the Cape Ann colonists, led by Roger Conant, in 1624. Endicott's colony arrived September 6, 1628. On May 10, 1643, eight towns -Salem, Lynn, Wenham, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Glouces- ter, and Andover - were set apart and incorporated as Essex County.
Indian disturbances affected the inhabitants but little until the breaking out of King Philip's War; in which brave soldiers and good leaders from Essex County distinguished themselves at various points. Theirs were the troops so mercilessly slaughtered at "Bloody Brook," in Deerfield, - a body of ninety picked, well-dis- ciplined, courageous soldiers known as "the Flower of Essex," under Captain Lothrop, - where they were surprised by a large body of Philip's savage warriors.
The history of this county is disfigured by the woful delusion of witchcraft which raged here in the latter part of the 17th century ; and which, originating in that part of Salem which is now included in Danvers, extended to neighboring towns, until not less than 20 persons had actually been executed, while 8 more had been con- demned, 150 were in prison awaiting trial, and 200 others had been accused. It is acknowledged that most of those who suffered and many others of the accused were persons of excellent character. In consequence of the trials and the expenses, the rapacious confisca- tions, and the universal alarm, business was utterly prostrated, and hundreds impoverished. Long years of toil and sorrow elapsed
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before the county recovered fully from this terrible blow. During the Revolution Essex County effectively sustained her part on the side of freedom and nationality.
Franklin County lies on the northern side of the state, entirely west of its middle longitude, having both Vermont and New Hampshire on the north, Worcester County on the east, Hampshire County on the south, and Berkshire County on the west. Its greatest measurement east and west is about 40 miles; and north and south some 25 miles. Its area is near 680 square miles, the assessed area being 405,383 acres. The aggregate of forest lands is 142,806 acres.
It is divided at nearly right angles through each axis by the Con- necticut River, running from north to south, Deerfield River from the west, and Miller's River from the east, discharging into the first. Along the two latter rivers, entirely across the county, runs the Fiteliburg Railroad; while parallel to the larger river, on its eastern side, runs the New London and Northern Railroad, and on the west, the Connecticut River Railroad. Though very hilly, this country contains few lofty peaks, - Pocumtuck Mountain in Charlemont (1888 feet), Mount Grace, in Warwick (1628 feet), Bear Mountain in Wendell (1281 feet), Packard's Mountain in New Salem (1278 feet), and Mount Esther in Whately (995 feet), being the highest. The ele- vations are generally covered with a heavy growth of timber to the very summit. The geological formations are calcareous gneiss, sien- ite, calciferous mica-schist, lower sandstones, middle shales and sandstone, Quebec group, clay-slate and the Devonian. The soil is various. The meadows along the larger streams are remarkably fertile; and the hill regions afford excellent pasture and often good tillage land. The principal agricultural productions are Indian corn, grass, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, broom-corn and tobacco. Whortle- berries are very numerous in the uplands in some parts.
This county was taken from Hampshire County and incorporated June 24, 1811. It was named in honor of Dr. Franklin. It embraces 26 towns, namely : Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Colway, Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick, Wen- dell and Whately. Greenfield is the capital town. These are all in the 11th Congressional District, and in the 8th Council District. The county has five representatives in the General Court ; and, with three towns of Worcester County, has one State senator. Its popu- lation is 37,449. It has 9,518 voters, 8,807 families, 7,757 dwellings, 3,775 farms and 489 manufactories. The number of neat cattle in 1885 was 21,602; of horses, 6,830; and there were 270,295 fruit trees. The valuation in 1888 was $19,330,992. There are 228 pub- lic school buildings, valued, with appurtenances, at $261,560; and 25 private school buildings valued at $321,700. There are 90 pub- lic libraries containing 81,422 bound volumes; the town public libraries numbering 16, and having 34,257 volumes. There are 89 religious societies having church edifices.
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HAMPDEN.
A writer of wide observation has well said of Franklin County :- " Its hills are beautiful, its valleys are beautiful ; and within my knowledge it would be difficult to find a county of no larger extent, combining more of what is attractive in the natural world, and pre- senting more objects to please the sight and imagination. The man of refined sentiment and cultivated mind, with a taste for rural scenery, might pass a month in this county with continually new and rich gratification in exploring its many agreeable rides and varied objects of curiosity."
Hampden County is the southern county of the State, on Connecticut River, which divides it into about equal eastern and western sections. Through it to this river from the northwest comes Westfield River; and a few miles northward on the opposite side of the Connecticut comes in Chicopee River from a westerly course through the eastern section of the county. It is bounded on the north by Hampshire County, east by Worcester, west by Berkshire and south by the en- tire northern range of Connecticut counties. With the exception of a southern projection of Southwick and a slighter one of a corner of Longmeadow, the southern boundary is a straight line, but the other sides are very irregular. Its length east and west is near 45 miles ; north and south, 15 miles. Its area is stated as 670 square miles. The assessed land is 345,888, irchiding 104,224 acres of woodland and excepting highways and water surfaces.
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