USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 15
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Ensign Thomas Cooper seems to have received the first grant of land in Woronoco from the town of Springfield in 1658. He was a man of prominence in Springfield and one who did considerable dealing with the Indians. He was a practical carpenter as well as a farmer, a practicing attorney before the county court and at times a deputy to the General Court, and rose to be lieutenant before his death. He never occupied this grant, but settled in Agawam.
At a town meeting held at Springfield, February 7, 1664, Captain John Pynchon, Nathaniel Ely, George Colton, Benjamin Cooley and Elizur Holyoke were chosen a committee to have charge of the lands in Woronoco. This is an Indian name, which spelled as "War- wunockoo," is said to mean "it is fat hunting." They made grants almost at once to sixteen men, who were to build and settle and culti- vate the land within a reasonable time, and do a certain amount of fencing. Three years later a warning was issued that some of the grants would be forfeited unless the requirements were met, and another committee was appointed to forward the matter of fencing.
The oldest settlement was on the north side of the river and was called the "Cellar Side." The name seems to have been given because of the way the houses were located, many of them against banks here and there, so that the lower story was exposed on one side
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only, and consequently could be better defended against the Indians. George Saxton and Walter Lee, of Northampton, settled here in 1663 on Ensign Cooper's grant and John Sackett, from the same town, bought Deacon Samuel Chapin's grant, which lay next. It seemed natural for the Northampton men to come in here, for the old road from that town to Windsor ran through this portion. It went on to the so-called "South Side," where Governor Hopkins had early estab- lished his trading house when Connecticut claimed the territory. Cap- tain Aaron Cook, who received one of the grants from the Springfield committee, built a tavern here in 1668. James Cornish, Thomas Dewey, John Osborne and John Ingersoll built nearby. The third village was called "Fort Side" and lay off the beaten track and between the streams. An old Indian fort had stood here in times past.
When the land was plotted it was divided into home-lots fourteen and one-half rods broad and eighty rods long and plow-lots of varying acreage. Some highways were four rods wide and some only two rods. Gates were established at convenient points for getting into and out of the fenced areas and a fine of five shillings levied on those who left a gate open during the season from March 25 on. There were no bridges, but the streams were forded at certain places, one of them being called "the neck riding."
May 28, 1669, the General Court made the settlement of Woro- noco into a town and gave it the name of Westfield. This change was recommended and aided by the mother town of Springfield, which was rather unusual in our early history. "Streamfield" had been sug- gested as a name, but for some reason was not chosen. Then began the difficult task of determining the exact boundaries of the new town and securing from the Indian owners Alquat, Wollump and Wollamunt, a deed of the land. Seven acres were reserved "in a nooke by ye Little River" for Wollump, son of Alquat, as a fishing ground.
The settlement at the "Fort Side" was the center of the new town. Here a palisade of pointed tree trunks eight or more feet high, set close together in a circuit of about two miles, enclosed the houses. This was sometimes referred to as the "place of compact dwellings" and at other times as "the fort." There were some "forted houses" built outside of the palisade. These usually had an ample cellar, where the women and children might take refuge during an attack by
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the Indians. Westfield was the frontier and the edge of civilization for over fifty years and consequently needed even more careful pro- tection than was usual. In times of Indian uprisings guards were set about the palisades and because of its exposed position the town did not grow rapidly.
The settlers endeavored to be fair and just in their dealings with the Indians and there were strict rules against selling them firearms or liquor. Heavy fines were imposed, but nevertheless drunkenness was common. The Indians degenerated into dissolute vagabonds, a burden to the community, but they often were capable of outwitting the whites in sharp practices. On a bitter cold winter day old Wah- posucum appeared at the chief trading post with a lot of baskets to exchange for "firewater." In jest the trader offered him for the lot as much rum as he could carry away in one of the baskets. The old Indian went to the river, cut a hole in the ice with his hatchet and repeatedly dipped his basket in the stream and exposed it to the zero atmosphere until it was coated inside and out with sufficient ice so that it would hold the coveted liquor. Stalking back to the trading- house he demanded payment and received it, to the financial loss of the trader.
Another redskin, whose wigwam was in the district later known as "Madagascar," had acquired among the whites the reputation of being a notorious liar. One of the good men of the town remon- strated with him over his tendency to falsify and said he should at least tell two truths to one lie. Not long afterward the Indian told this man of having killed a fat buck near Mount Tekoa and being unable to carry it he had slung it into the fork of a white birch sapling. To reach the spot one should go west three miles to a blasted oak, then turn northward until a big chestnut tree stood in the way. A little. to the east of this the white birch and the deer would be found. The listener credited the story, gave the Indian a fair price for the venison and went out with his horse to bring in the buck. No deer was found and on the first opportunity the Indian was taken to task for his untruthfulness. He was unconcerned for he said he had done even better than the injunction to tell two truths to one lie, for the blasted oak was there, also the big chestnut and the white birch tree. Only the deer was missing and he had told three truths to one lie.
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The site of the first meetinghouse was a matter of lengthy dis- cussion, each of the three settlements desiring it to be located in their vicinity. Even after it was decided that it should be built on the "Fort Side," the lots were drawn only "after solemn looking to God." It was probably built in 1673 and is supposed to have stood on the north side of what is now Main Street, a little northwest of the bridge over Little River. The meetinghouse was about thirty-six feet square, fourteen feet high and "for form like the Hatfield meetinghouse." A central aisle led from the entrance to the pulpit and there were long benches on both sides.
Westfield did not wait for a meetinghouse before having preaching services. At first, John Holyoke "dispensed ye word of life," but "finding ye ministry of the word too heavie for him, desisted." Then cooperating with a committee at Springfield it was voted that "Capt. Cook shall go to the Bay to procure a minister," and Reverend Moses Fish came and served three years. A Mr. Adams from Dedham could not be secured because he was "not as yet movable from ye collidge."
Edward Taylor was the minister selected by the town soon after its organization and he served them for more than half a century. He came to Westfield in December on horseback from Boston, "the Snow being about midleg deep, the way unbeaten, or ye track filled up again, and over rocks and mountains." They lodged the first night at "Malbury" and the next day lost their way in the woods but finally found again the blazed trees and reached "Quabaug." Springfield sheltered them the next night and the following morning they led their horses across the Connecticut River on the ice, "mercy going along with us." He seems to have been an unusually able man, a writer as well as a preacher. He kept a diary through most of his life and recorded matters of public interest as well as private affairs. He was something of a naturalist and had also studied medicine, so he must have been of considerable value to the little town. A love letter of his, written from Westfield in 1674, starts :
"MY DOVE :- I send you not my heart, for that I hope is sent to Heaven long since, and unless it has awfully deceived me, it hath not taken up its lodgings in any one's bosom on this side the royal city of the Great King; but yet the most of it that is allowed to be layed out upon any creature doth safely and singly fall to your share."
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The letter continues :
"I know not how to offer a fitter comparison to set out my love by, than to compare it unto a golden ball of pure fire roll- ing up and down my breast, from which there flies now and then a spark like a glorious beam from the body of the flaming sun."
The letter is signed "Your true love till death, Edward Taylor," and has on it this notation. "This is for my friend and only beloved Miss Elizabeth Fitch at her father's house in Norwich." Miss Fitch was the daughter of Reverend James Fitch, of Norwich, Connecticut, and Mr. Taylor married her before the close of the year.
Mr. Taylor was, like other country ministers, a farmer and his parishioners helped him in haying and harvest times and the women assisted Mrs. Taylor with her spinning. During King Philip's War he and his bride shared the anxieties and the sorrows of the colo- nists. Every night for many months they went with others to the fort, where a guard was set. For three years the savages burned dwellings, slew men, women and children and threatened the utter destruction of the English. Westfield was an outpost and seemed most exposed to attack. As a result of the terrible devastation, some towns were abandoned, and the council at Boston finding it impossible to properly garrison the remainder urged the concentration of the set- tlers in Hadley and Springfield. A letter received by Major Pynchon in March, 1676, says: "Westfield must join with you and totally remove to you, for 'tis impossible to hold both towns." Westfield protested this removal to Springfield in a letter written by Mr. Taylor, in which he depreciates the safety of Springfield as a garrisoned town, tells of what plans Westfield has made to more thoroughly protect itself, asks for thirty soldiers to assist and adds that sickness in the town still further complicates the matter. In short, Westfield refused to give up her homes and her lands to the savages and courageously, if fearfully, drew closer for protection. Events soon proved that they had been wise for much of Springfield was burned, and because of the loss of their cornmill they had to come to Westfield to have their corn ground at the Dewey or Whiting mills on Two Mile Brook. Mr. Taylor wrote in his diary of the burning of Mr. Cornish's house and
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also John Sackett's house and barn and of other catastrophes, but adds : "Thus, though we lay in the very rode of the enemy we were preserved, only the war had so impoverished us that many times we were ready to leave the place."
It must, indeed, have been disheartening. Some discouraged men had moved to larger towns that seemed safer, a few had been killed; less had been planted than usual and some of that was not harvested, grain and other provisions had been levied for the troops, and soldiers were billeted on the impoverished households. The fight at Turner's Falls and the attack on Hatfield in 1676 were culminating events, but
OLD SOUTHERN VIEW IN CENTRAL PART OF WESTFIELD
for some time after roving bands of Indians brought terror to the people.
Nor were the Indians the only troublemakers in Westfield at this time for George Filer was haled into court for entertaining Quakers. He owned to the charge and also that he was something of a Quaker himself. That he had absented himself from public worship was another thing against him and this he did not deny either. His con- temptuous speeches about the ministers and their work, "namely, that they turne over 20 or 30 Authors a weeke to patch up an houres dis- course or two on the Sabbath," added to the fact that "He seems to be a very seminary of heritacall opinions," leads one to wonder why his fine was only five shillings, though the alternative of a whipping was surely severe enough.
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The "cartway" from Northampton to Windsor, Connecticut, was laid out through Westfield and ran from four to forty rods wide, which allowed of considerable shifting of the roadway around bad spots. The trail from Springfield to Albany was also through West- field and it was over this route the ransomed Hatfield captives were escorted home from Canada in 1678. Along this way during all the years of the French and Indian wars went horsemen and footmen and military supplies. General Amherst and his army on their way from Boston to Canada stopped one night in Westfield.
The early records of the church in Westfield in the writing of the Reverend Mr. Taylor are unusually complete and give a fine picture of the official organization and of his ordination. The churches of Norwich, Windsor, Springfield, Northampton and Hadley were called in as a council and the proceedings must have covered about three days in August, 1678.
Four men who had settled in Westfield received dismissal from the Windsor church and two from Northampton, in order that they might be members of the new church in Westfield. These, with the minister, were known as the seven "foundation men" of the organiza- tion. Each one of these six laymen had to make a declaration of his religious experiences which was called a "Relation." This drew out the proceedings to such length that Mr. Taylor records that "ye Elders and Messengers of Northampton and Hadley drove on to ye contrary." Whether they tired of the lengthy and involved discourses or whether their farming interests called them away, we do not know. Many prominent names are on the list of delegates from the five towns or among the visitors, and their faith and convictions are indicated in a note of Mr. Taylor's that they "did stickle more than was meet." But the "laying on of hands" finally was accomplished and Westfield started on its way as a mother of churches. No elders or deacons were chosen for thirteen years.
An early law of the Colony provided that every township of fifty householders should appoint one in the town to teach the children to write and read in order that the "old deluder Satan" should not keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures. Just when this provision was first fulfilled in Westfield is not known, but a town vote taken in 1678 shows that a teacher, Mr. Deutre, was already at work and they gave him a house-lot and some outlying land. Mr. James Cor-
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nish was the second teacher and he received the equivalent of £18 paid in wheat, pork and Indian corn for a half year's work. In 1702 Westfield showed its progressiveness by engaging Isaac Phelps to teach school for a whole year, instead of the usual six months, but they seem to have slipped later when they engaged Joseph Sexton, who wrote his own agreement, to "teach children to Reade and Wright so far as he is capassatated." The first schoolhouse was built in 1701. Those sending children to school were expected to furnish wood when needed. Girls were to pay the same tuition as boys "if they goo," but the tuition for boys from seven to twelve years of age must be paid "whether they go or not." The hornbook, which was simply one small sheet of paper upon which was printed the alphabet in large and small letters; a few syllables such as ab, eb, ib, ob; and the Lord's Prayer, backed with a thin piece of wood and protected in front with a semi-transparent sheet of horn, was early used. Paper was scarce and sums were done in the ashes of the hearth and on birch bark or wood. The "New England Primer" early became a standard and often the only textbook used. Its rhymed alphabet, commencing "In Adam's fall, we sinned all," and ending "Zaccheus he did climb a tree his Lord to see," was a favorite with the children, even though the "Shorter Catechism" did not attract them.
Isaac Stiles served as teacher in 1722, as well as assistant to Mr. Taylor, and two years later the town voted to provide a grammar school as well as a winter school for the people at Little River. The establishment of outlying schools spread as one district after another was settled until in 1825 there were seventeen to be maintained.
When the first meetinghouse had stood for forty years, a new one appeared to be necessary in spite of the fact that the old one had been repaired and a gallery added to make more pew room. Then began the usual voting and reconsidering and appointing of commit- tees to decide the location until nearly six years passed by. What a relief it must have been at last when the "4 or 5 barels of beer" were bought and the drum beat on the eighth of June, 1720, for the raising. Eighteen months later they were still doing some work on the new meetinghouse, but had begun to use it. The people "on the south side of the Little River" were given permission "to build a hovel for their horses" nearby and this was the forerunner of the old New England horsesheds which later backed every church. This "hovel" was just for horses, as vehicles were not yet in use.
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The old minister, Mr. Taylor, did not like the new meetinghouse because it was not built just where the old one stood. By this time he was too old to carry on the work of the parish without assistance and finally Mr. Nehemiah Bull began to serve both as school teacher and minister. Nathaniel Ponder was engaged to sweep the meetinghouse and John Negro to beat the drum for service. Fifty pounds was voted for a church bell in 1728. Mr. Bull married the daughter of Edward Partridge, of Hatfield. When the mission to the Housatonic Indians was undertaken, Mr. Bull accompanied Reverend John Sargeant to that place and baptized for him the first Indian convert. During the "Great awakening" under Jonathan Edwards and the English White- field, Westfield was deeply stirred and forty-five were added to the church in one year.
Indian troubles were not entirely over, watch was kept when men were working in the fields and occasional scouting parties were sent out to drive away dusky marauders. A party of Westfield men with loaded carts were attacked by the savages and one Indian was shot by Noah Ashley. He was scalped and the trophy sent to Boston in return for which £100 was received. A few years later the bounty for a scalp was raised to £300.
An old Indian named Greylock was a disturber for some time. He chose to take captive rather than to kill and was constantly skulk- ing about waiting for a chance. He caught a boy by the name of Loomis, who thoughtlessly went out of the fort in the early evening to get cherries. Mr. Bentley, in the east part of the town worked at ditching all one summer. He uniformly set his gun one rod before him, worked up to it and moved it again and again. But the follow- ing year, in a moment of carelessness, Greylock got him. These and others were released on payment of goods or money.
Settling in a new region compelled steady and persistent work, yet the people were not gloomy. The very variety of their many tasks served in place of recreation. There were training days when work was suspended and all gathered on the common. The annual muster was a holiday and a big event with much visiting. Working the roads was done in company and a "raising" drew both sexes from a considerable area. Weddings were festive occasions and there were husking parties, paring bees and spelling matches. There were no sleigh rides until nearly the middle of the 1700's. The kitchen was
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the workshop in winter and here shingles were shaved, yokes shaped and wooden implements whittled out. Food was plain but plentiful and supplied from the farm and the woods. Rye and corn made most of the bread and a frequent midday meal was a boiled dinner with a baked Indian pudding. Tea and coffee were luxuries and cider took the place of beer so much used at first. Hasty pudding with milk or molasses made a good breakfast. Potatoes did not come to the val- ley until about 1720, but turnips, cabbages and beans were in com- mon use.
The third pastor at Westfield was John Ballantine, who has left behind an interesting diary. He was unmarried when he began his pastorate, but in September, 1743, he went to Roxbury, where he preached on the Sabbath from the text "Love never faileth." That was September 18 and on the twentieth he was married to Molly Gay and brought her to Westfield in a "chair," which was a chaise without a top. Some of the interesting items in his journal are as follows :
"6 men went out fishing, boat overset, 3 men drowned."
"Much cattle have perished this spring. A very melan- choly account from the East that they have no corn to put in the ground and the people have to eat clams, not having any bread."
"4 Negroes publicly whipped."
"A girl killed at Hatfield. Thunder."
"A man stood in the pillory for making money."
"The comet so much talked about has been seen. The measles have been in every house but six or seven in town."
"Sunday, a bear was killed in the afternoon. Was it a violation of the Sabbath ?"
"Sent for by Widow Wadkins, her daughter supposed to have ye small Pox. Went."
"Ensign Ingersol gave me 2 qts. rum. Elisha Root I qt. Erastus Sacket I qt." (For barn raising.)
"See in the newspapers, Sir Robert Davens boiled and eat by the Indians."
"Cow hunched me."
"Saw a She Lyon at Landlord Fowler's."
"Pot Ash first made at Westfield."
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"Was insulted by a principal man in town for a plain ser- mon delivered last Sabbath against idleness."
"Long seats taken down in ye Meetinghouse, pews to be put in their place."
"Preached, some offended on account of seats and refuse to come and worship with us."
"Preached-sung twice in forenoon, singers stood up in ye gallery. New Tunes-some disgusted went out last singing."
"Military company set up."
"Provincial Congress at Concord."
Mr. Ballantine died February 12, 1776, so he saw only the start of the colonies' struggle for freedom. Representatives from the town met in Boston, Concord and in nearer places to discuss their respon- sibility to the mother country and pass resolutions. February 6, 1775, at a Westfield meeting they voted to encourage the minute men and look up the "arms" in town. A later report states that thirty or forty guns were found, but fifty-three men marched in the first com- pany to Boston. Soon more men were called for and then clothing and provisions were requisitioned. When one demand for blankets came, Westfield's quota was thirty-two, while Springfield's was only twelve. The committee in charge of collecting would go to a house and make up its mind how many should be asked from that place. In some cases they were taken from beds in use, but the people gave cheerfully. Colonel Moseley was on the committee of safety, was a delegate to the second and third congresses, helped collect arms in the county and filled various other positions of responsibility. Colonel Elisha Parks assisted in finding armorers and Richard Falley, of West- field, was added to the number chosen as a "complete master" of the art. Westfield seems to have had little trouble from Tories, but Roland Parks, who failed to respond to a call to march, was lodged in jail. His father, Elisha Parks, was a patriot, but the son is said to have received a life pension from the British Government. John Bancroft, another British sympathizer, was ordered confined to the limits of his own farm. To add to the distress of the times smallpox swept over the town and a "valuable house" was set aside as a hospital and "ten- ders," all men, were paid four shillings a day for their services.
Colonel Shepard and men from Westfield played an important part in the victory at Saratoga and were in the brigade which had the
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responsibility of guarding the prisoners. The Hessian general, Riede- sel, with his men came over the road from Albany on his way to Boston and spent a night in Westfield. His wife accompanied him from camp to camp in her little covered carriage and was an object of much curiosity. Many Hessian women also went along with the soldiers, carrying their children and their kettles and other belongings
WESTFIELD NORMAL SCHOOL
with them. Sometimes they were cared for in homes along the way and kindly treated. Two German soldiers are said to have frozen to death in the woods on the day that they reached Westfield, per- haps losing their way, so disorderly and scattered was the march.
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