USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume I > Part 17
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When the insurgents in western Massachusetts had scattered, Lin- coln said at Pittsfield that he found "the people in general had been in arms, or had encouraged those who were." Governor Bowdoin offered one hundred and fifty pounds for the arrest of Shays and one hundred pounds each for the arrest of Luke Day and Eli Parsons. Day was eventually brought to Springfield a prisoner, but Shays made good his escape. This region for some weeks was made lively with martial anecdotes. At Hadley, seven soldiers were court martialed for stealing property from private citizens, and were condemned to march before the army on parade, with papers pinned to their breasts on which was written in capital letters, "FOR PLUNDERING."
Long after the events that have been recorded we find General Shepard complaining that he had not been repaid by the State for his services in defending Springfield, and he added :
"As to private injuries and insults which I have received, some have been by burning my fences and injuring my wood- lands by fire beyond recovery for many years; others by wan- tonly as well as cruelly destroying two of my horses by cutting off their ears and digging out their eyes before they were killed; also by insulting me with the vile epithet 'a murderer
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of brethren,' and through anonymous letters threatening me with the destruction of my dwelling-house and family by fire."
After the Revolution it was a common custom to paint houses bright red or yellow and wearing apparel was likewise gaudy. Scarlet cloaks or richly flowered blue silk coats were worn by the women, and also the calash, the furbelow scarf, camlet riding-hood, or white hoods trimmed with lace.
Girls in families of moderate means had hoods of coarser material and calico gowns. Woolen petticoats with calico borders were com- mon. It was a rare daughter who could not ride horseback either single or on a pillion, and tourists from abroad spoke of the charm of these rosy-faced girls racing down country roads in white aprons and calico dresses. Both men and women patronized the hair dresser. William Doyle kept a fashionable place after the Revolution opposite Zenas Parsons' tavern and a little north of the courthouse. He made wigs, "attended the call of ladies," and kept "a stock of cushions and curls, and for gentlemen full-bottomed wigs, periwigs and scratches," which were wigs that partially covered the head.
On Fridays, in 1783, the Hartford "Stage wagon" left David Bull's inn for Parsons' tavern in Springfield, and returned Saturdays. A few years later Reuben Sikes ran a line of stages from New York to Boston through Springfield three times weekly in summer, and the fare was three shillings a mile. The arrival and departure of such ladies and gentlemen as were equal to the expense of travel was an event of no small account. On the south side of Ferry Lane, which later was known as Cypress Street, dwelt Dr. Charles Pynchon, who had a wide practice all through the valley. There had been a time when Ferry Lane seemed destined to be the business center of the town. Opposite the doctor's office Zebina Stebbins had his residence as well as his dry goods store, but finally he moved one of his buildings to the east side of Main Street. It contained a printing establishment, and there his son, Dr. Cad Stebbins, had an apothecary shop, and among other things sold tea, coffee, needles and Bibles. Mr. Stebbins was overseer of the poor and he was thrifty in business; hence his proposal to make up a job lot of coffins for a group of aged unfortu- nates who plainly would need such receptacles soon.
A conspicuous merchant of this period was Jonathan Dwight, whose "old red house" lives in storied memory, and here used to
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gather for converse, and to smoke and to trade, people of all classes and conditions. The red house was removed in 1799, and the old store was drawn by long lines of oxen up Main Street to Mr. Dwight's meadow, an event which greatly impressed the school children of that day. Jonathan Dwight and others joined forces and started a gin distillery on Main Street near Cross Street, connecting with a malthouse in a rear meadow.
Joel Marble kept a drug store one door south of the courthouse, and he had a counter devoted to books. William Warland, chaise- maker, was located near the Great Ferry. The best known tavern of the period was the old stand of Zenas Parsons.
Formerly a magnificent elm stood in the southeast corner of the present Court Square, and there was just room for the "stage wag- gon" between it and the hotel veranda. In the rear were extensive barns and sheds, and auctions were frequently held there. In that part of the premises, too, the young men on training day often tried their powers in wrestling. Over the shed was a long dance hall, much used by the young people and interest in the tavern was further increased by the fact that George Washington had put up there either when going to take command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, or when he visited the armory after the war.
The first Springfield newspaper was "The Massachusetts Gazette and General Advertiser," in 1782. It was a dingy affair containing some foreign matter and very little local information. The printing office was a few rods south of the courthouse, where was kept an extensive stock of books, writing paper, and maps, to be exchanged for rags and country produce or money. Goldsmith's "Deserted Vil- lage" and other books were sold by the several post riders from the printing office. These post riders furnished a lively feature of the day, riding up and down the valley on both sides of the river. One post rider covered a route from Northfield to Hartford.
In 1784 the publishers moved to the Great Ferry and changed the paper's name to the "Hampshire Herald." In general the existence of the early papers was precarious. They changed names and owners, and were prone to disappear altogether.
By 1790, the floating of timber down the river was a busy indus- try, and about that time the Legislature incorporated a company to build locks and canals on the stream. John Worthington, of Spring-
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field, headed the list of stockholders and Northampton was strongly represented.
Work was soon begun. This was the pioneer project of canaling in New England, and there were numerous engineering difficulties. Besides, the scarcity of money was a serious handicap. Finally an agent was sent to Holland, and there a Dutch loan was secured. Soon a canal was built in the rocks, and a dam started to raise the river level at the upper end of the canal. But the consequence of that was an overflow of the Northampton meadows. The company was prose- cuted and a portion of the dam was torn down. Next, the Dutch capitalists became alarmed and wanted their money back, and the faith of the American investors enabled the Dutch to cash in at a con- siderable profit.
When more money was needed in 1802, the company was author- ized to raise it by means of a lottery and they used this source of income to deepen the canal several feet.
Demoralization attending the wars was plain. Burglary and horse-stealing from 1787 was very common and deserters and bounty- jumpers flourished. About this time two young men of the town were induced to enlist at Worcester under false names to secure the sixty dollar bounty. They were detected, but were let off with a published card full of humble contrition, and the payment of twenty dollars "smart money," to be used advertising for deserters.
A great sensation was caused in May, 1782, when a woman dressed as a man enlisted in Springfield as Samuel Smith. She failed to get mustered in or to receive the bounty, and was locked up. Lack of a beard roused the suspicions of the authorities. Another person dealt with was William Jones, passer of counterfeit State money, who broke jail. In fact, there were many crimes against property. In 1782 thieves made a descent on Zenas Parsons, and much plate and other valuables were secured.
By an act of the Legislature in 1794, all the courts of Hampshire County were directed to be held at Northampton, which was made the shiretown of the county. The reason assigned for making the change was that Northampton, on account of its central situation, was the most suitable place for holding the courts of the county and most likely to give general satisfaction. Later years, however, showed that the center of business and population was nearer Springfield, but no fur-
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ther change was made until the creation of the new county of Hamp- den in 1812, with Springfield the shire town.
When the proposal was made to establish a Federal arsenal near here public opinion was divided. If West Springfield had made an effort the armory would probably have been located there; but the majority on the west side like the minority on the east, feared the moral effect of drawing in the soldier element which would make up the bulk of the armorers. Brookfield and Hartford had been thought of as suitable places for a government storehouse. Stores could be
SPRINGEUTE
CRAFTS TAVERN, HOLYOKE On Springfield and Northampton Highway
sent down the river from here, but the town could not be reached by a hostile flotilla, and the final decision made by George Washington and General Knox six months later was in favor of the Springfield training ground.
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There was quite a flutter in 1792, caused by a colony of laborers with their families who settled here. But a meeting of the selectmen and a few visits of the two town constables, with writs of warning to depart in fifteen days, restored the equilibrium. It was this kind of invasion that the community feared.
Congress passed a bill establishing a United States Armory here in 1794. The appearance of the hill at that time was not very for- midable. There was a powder magazine made of brick with an arched roof three feet thick. This magazine was blown up in 1846. There were two red wooden storehouses, some soldiers' barracks, and an old dwellinghouse where the storekeeper lived. Other build- ings had been put up at the lower watershops. The upper water- shops were built in 1809 on the site of a powder mill which had exploded that year, and it was possible then to abandon hand work for waterpower in forging, boring and grinding. The first musket was made by the United States here, in 1795. Forty men were employed at first, and during that year they turned out two hundred and forty- five muskets, less than one for each working day.
Armorers were exempted from jury and military duty after 1800. Colonel Roswell Lee became superintendent of the armory in 1815. He was a six-footer, dignified and placid. Old armorers showed great respect and affection for him. Among his numerous improvements was the rebuilding of the north shop, burned in 1824. It was a source of anxiety to him that the armorers spent so much of their earnings for rum, and he tried with a good deal of zeal to check the practice. The "Old Toddy Road" to Japhet Chapin's tavern did not reduce the travel along this route. He discharged two workmen who were found wrestling in the midst of a ring of armorers. There was a liberty pole in the center of the ground that had been erected by the subscription of the workmen, and here the friends of the discharged men gathered and passed around the bottles. "If we can't have any liberty," they said, "we won't have any liberty-pole," and an axe was brought ready to wield. The colonel and others hastened to the scene. They saved the pole, and the little "rum rebellion" was at an end, but "Toddy Road" did not lose its name for some years.
The first guns made at the armory were the French model, but afterward English models were favored. These were heavy, long-
Hampden-15
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barreled, large fore-guns that were favorites with the Indians, one of whom, according to legend, declared his liking was for "big gun, big noise, big bullet." The first American model was made with flint- lock, in 1822. This was abandoned in 1842 and the percussion lock adopted.
This seemed so perfect that a proud historian declared in the "Springfield Directory" of 1848 that it was "confidently believed the arms made at this armory since the percussion lock was used had no equal anywhere else in the world." The new model was used in the Mexican War. When the great war of the North and South began only a few up-to-date guns were available and until the 1862 model could be made and put in the field the Union volunteers had to take such guns as they could-Enfields, Austrians, Belgians, flintlocks, rifles, fowling pieces-anything in the shape of a gun. A large increase in the armory force and the addition of new buildings followed the outbreak of war. At the time Fort Sumter was fired on one thousand guns a month were made, but production continued to increase until that quantity was finished every twenty-four hours, with the works running day and night. The payroll at this time was more than $200,000 a month, and the foundation of many a thrifty Springfield mechanic's home was begun in those years of turmoil.
In Field and Forest
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CHAPTER XV
In Field and Forest
The floating of timber down the Connecticut River did not begin until after peace with the Indians in 1726. The first notice found of floating states that several persons assembled on the bank of the river, August 31, to see twenty-five masts float down Enfield Falls, and that one struck a rock, which turned it from its course in a manner that killed a boy of Windsor. A company was formed, about 1730, of several men who belonged in Suffield, Westfield and Deerfield, for the purpose of cutting and floating down the river white pine logs suit- able for masts, booms, yards and bowsprits, for the British Navy, in accord with an agreement approved by the King's contractor in Bos- ton. By October, 1733, they had gotten to New London a shipload of timber, and they had in the woods, seventy miles above Fort Dum- mer, a considerable number of men preparing another shipload. Two logs that lodged on the river bank at Saybrook were three feet in diameter at the large end and eighty feet in length.
After the conquest of Canada and the settlement of towns far up the river, great numbers of logs were floated down in freshets, and many lodged on the lowlands in various towns. After the Revolution, pine trees were cut and sent to market without restriction. When there was a big freshet a great number of logs and trees lodged on the flats of Hampshire. It is said that in the high flood of 1801 a man could walk one hundred rods on logs in Northampton meadow. In some places they were heaped up one above another, and there were amazing piles in many of the coves. When the freshet was not high, the river sometimes was so full of logs that it seemed as if a person could walk on logs across the stream. Some of the logs on the meadows were drawn to the river in the spring, and others in the fall. The owners of the land were entitled to compensation from the own- ers of the timber for any damage incurred. Some of the logs were
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sold to owners of sawmills, and some to men who wanted them to use in building houses. They were glad to buy a few logs for clear boards and for shingles. Such pine did not grow in this part of the Connecticut Valley.
It was common knowledge that some men stole logs, and others ingeniously obliterated marks; if a log had not been marked, the log- men could not claim it.
THE OLD PYNCHON FORT
A few rafts of boards were floated down the Connecticut from the upper settlements, before 1755, and these gradually became numerous. Such rafts were safely guided down the falls and rapids of Willimansett and Enfield. John Pynchon sent small rafts of boards, sawed at his sawmills, down Enfield Falls to Hartford and other places, but all sawed lumber and shingles were carted past the falls at South Hadley and Montague. In April, 1765, a road was laid from the head of the falls at South Hadley to a landing place below the foot of the falls, about two and a half miles. The landing was twenty-five rods on the river and ten rods wide. This was named the "Lumber Road." When it was finished, in 1765, there was no house near the river or falls. Titus Pomeroy, from Northampton, was the first innkeeper there, beginning in 1767, and after his death his widow kept an inn many years. There were two sawmills in 1771, and a third one in Fallsfield, near the lumber road. After 1765, the trans-
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portation of lumber and the taking to pieces and putting together rafts, made considerable stir about the falls.
Some rafts and boats stopped at the mouth of Stony Brook and boards, produce, and other things were carted from there either to the landing at the foot of the falls, or to the landing below Williman- sett rapids. Much merchandise was carried up past the falls to Stony Brook from this lower landing, and some was taken at the foot of the falls. The farmers of Falls Woods changed their employment, in part, and were the carriers of lumber and goods by the falls for more than thirty years. They could not cart lumber and cultivate their farms, and the land and fences had a neglected appearance. Some- times farmers from other parts of the town were transporters of lumber.
The mouth of Stony Brook, where everything is now so quiet, was a bustling place at times more than half a century ago. It was a harbor for rafts and boats, and in freshets great numbers of logs lodged on the adjoining lands. Immense piles of boards were some- times on the south bank, and numerous men and teams. Elijah Alvord had a warehouse near the brook. He sold goods and kept a public house, more than a mile below. When the canal was in operation, and boats and rafts were daily passing through it, the rafts above waiting their turns were sometimes so numerous they lined the shore from the head of the canal to Stony Brook, a distance of more than two miles.
In 1770, Elias Lyman was licensed to keep a ferry between North- ampton and South Hadley, not far from his inn, where Smiths Ferry is now. No one had been licensed before, though people had long crossed the river in boats at this place. Northampton had boats and boatmen on the river below the falls when needed for one hundred and twenty years, before the first canal of 1795. They carried freight between "Hampton landing," in West Springfield, and Hartford and other places below. There was a Hadley boat on the river in 1668. Boats continued to navigate the river until they were superseded by the freight cars of the railroad.
When the English established themselves on the banks of the Connecticut, there was in the river and its tributary streams, during the proper seasons, a great abundance of shad, salmon, bass, and other fish such as the Indians had used for food from time immemorial.
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The shad, which were very numerous, were despised and neglected by a large portion of the English for nearly one hundred years in the old Connecticut towns, and for about seventy-five years in the Hampshire towns above the falls. It was discreditable for those who had a com- petency to eat shad, and it was disreputable to be destitute of salt pork. Eating shad implied a deficiency of pork. The story has been handed down that in former days the fishermen took the salmon from the net, but often restored the shad to the stream as not worth saving. It has been related that when a family about to dine on shad, heard a knock at the door, the platter of shad was hastily hidden under a bed. There was a prejudice against shad because they were so generally used by the Indians.
The first purchase of shad found in any account book of the valley towns was made by Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, in 1733. He gave for thirty shad one penny each-which was not equal to half a penny in good money. Ebenezer Hunt gave two pence for "good fat shad" in 1737, and he bought bass, suckers, pickerels and eels. For forty years after 1733 the price of shad did not exceed a lawful penny. The dams across the river and other impediments diminished the number of shad, and gradually the price advanced to six pence, nine pence, one shilling and even higher prices, so that men ceased to buy shad to barrel for family use.
Shad-eating became reputable thirty years before the Revolution. They were carried away on horses, and some thousands of barrels were put up in Connecticut for the troops from 1778 to 1781. Shad never ascended Bellows Falls at Walpole, nor could they ascend the falls of Chicopee River. Salmon passed up both. In 1639 Brookfield petitioned the General Court for liberty to make a passage for shad through the bars of rocks across Chicopee River in Springfield, so they might come up the river into their ponds. Springfield opposed, and liberty was not granted. Salmon nets began to appear by 1700, and some salmon were salted in casks by families. They were seldom sold, and the price in Hartford was less than a penny a pound. Fish were so abundant in the Connecticut and its branches that laws were not necessary to regulate fishing for a long time. There was a law in Massachusetts against weirs or fish-dams in rivers without permis- sion. Petitions for liberty to erect weirs to catch fish in the Hamp- shire streams began in 1729, and these were chiefly for catching sal-
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mon. In Northampton, salmon were sold from 1730 to 1740 at a price equal to one penny a pound in lawful money. The first dam at South Hadley, about 1795, impeded the salmon, and the dam at Mon- tague was a much greater obstruction. The salmon soon ceased to ascend the river. Few were caught after 1800. Northampton had two fishing places opposite each other, and there was a time when as many as forty salmon were caught in a day, the largest of which weighed between thirty and forty pounds. The fishermen often were near each other, and they bantered and joked abundantly, and some- times played tricks and encroached on each other. These things did not proceed from ill nature, but from a desire to indulge in fun and sport, but there were many coarse jokes and some harsh tricks.
In South Hadley was a noted fishing place near the mouth of Stony Brook, and another above Bachelor's Brook. Many salmon were taken at those places; twenty-four are said to have been caught at one haul near Stony Brook. The falls of rivers were great fishing places in New England for the Indians and the English. At South Hadley, the falls, known as Patucket by the red men, were one of the most favorable places on the river for taking fish, and it cannot be doubted that the Indians caught fish there in early days, and the Eng- lish before 1700.
Fishing at the falls generally began sometime between April 15 and May I. It was at its best in May. Shad were caught in seines below the falls, and in scoop-nets on the falls. Where the falls were rocky, boats were drawn to them, fastened, and filled with shad by scoop-nets; then taken ashore, emptied, and returned. In this man- ner a man could take from two thousand to three thousand shad in a day, and sometimes more with the aid of a boatman. The movements required men of some dexterity. Below the falls other large hauls of fish were made and brought to wharves. The greatest haul was about 3,300. However, it was not often that even 1,200 were taken at one sweep of the net. There were as many as fourteen fishing wharves at the foot of the falls in 1801. Salmon were taken on the falls in dip-nets, and below in seines with shad. At times, and in some places, the river seemed to be full of shad, and in crossing the oars often struck them. Old time fishermen at the falls used to say that it was much more difficult to sell salmon than shad.
After shad time some bass were caught with hooks. Sturgeon were taken on the falls with spears. Lampreys, commonly called
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lamprey eels, had long been plentiful on the falls, and many were taken at night by hand, with the aid of torchlights. Some were eaten in a few old Hampshire towns, but most were carried to towns in Connecticut. These lampreys came above the falls in great numbers, and entered the streams that run into the river. They were caught by the light of torches, sometimes several hundred in a night. Men waded into the stream, grasped them with a mittened hand, and placed them in a bag. At night, the lampreys sometimes crawled into and about the flutter-wheel of the mill and into the throat of the gate, in such numbers that the wheel could not be turned in the morning until they were cleared away. In Northampton Mill River, down the stream beyond the lower mills, lampreys were caught as in Hadley. On a dark night men might be seen in the river clasping with one hand, now and then, a squirming lamprey, and holding in the other a birch-bark torch, which threw light on the river and on everything along its borders. Very few lampreys were cooked, but many were given to hogs. None are now caught above the Holyoke dam.
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