USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 18
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Baptisms sometimes took place in the river just below the bridge. There have been as many changes in religious customs as in the bed of the river.
One April day two little Westfield girls had completed several successful slides down the icehouse roof and were sitting in the saw- dust by the door giggling and planning the next prank, when their grandfather came up the lane. He stopped before them and solemnly and sadly said: "Little girls, how can you laugh today? A great and good man has gone." He referred to the death of Abraham Lin- coln and made a profound impression which was, no doubt, what he intended.
For social life there were supper parties and cousin parties and a few dances. One vacation when the college boys came home there were twelve parties in a fortnight.
A parsimonious school committeeman once bought "slabs" to burn in the schoolhouse stoves and the children were almost frozen. The district schools were probably always poorly heated and ventilated, but who cared then? The school committee were of a rather casual sort, but when they visited the school they were looked at with such awe as mere man has seldom caused.
The question was asked of a lady from Buffalo a few years ago if a clergyman, candidate for a pulpit, would find congenial, intellectual companionship in Westfield. "Intellect?" she exclaimed, "Poetesses in Westfield are as common as milkmen in Buffalo."
WESTFIELD TOWN MEETINGS, BY J. H. LOCKWOOD-Much has been written in praise of the New England town meeting and its value can hardly be overestimated. Interest is intense as regards the busi- ness affairs and personal characteristics involved. Many items of vast
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importance are considered by men memorable for personality and ability, real statesmen in vision, efficiency and debate. Citizens listen with admiration and envy to the gifted village orators, amazed at their natural powers of forceful expression. At times contestants on both sides of a question are so effective and convincing in pressing their respective cases that a listener finds himself wobbling, each speaker in turn bringing him to a decision on an opposite side.
In Westfield, as elsewhere, as each annual meeting drew near, the hearts of the school board began to flutter with anxiety lest the steadily enlarging appropriations called for by changing conditions might in some way arouse opposition and fail of approval. The trepidation was keen, but a blessed relief was felt when the budget was finally ratified. Sometimes discussion was carried to wearisome lengths by long-winded advocates.
A remarkably capable series of moderators guided the proceedings and when one of the right type was found he was kept in the chair for succeeding years, if he was willing to wear the distressful crown. When affairs became so complicated as to bewilder any ordinary par- liamentarian, those skillful moderators would keep their heads, main- tain order and give rulings which were rarely upset by "Cushing's Manual."
One worthy citizen who took little part in formal debate, almost invariably arose when a motion was made to approve an appropria- tion, and moved the substitution of a sum lower than the one named. He was habitually opposed to what seemed to him a tendency to extravagance in handling the town's money, but once he reversed his usual procedure. The town was considering an appropriation to be used in providing bathrooms at the town farm and he arose and said: "I move that the amount be raised to $10,000 and imme- diately expended, for at the present rate of extravagance we all shall be there soon and it will be well to have sufficient bathrooms ready for us."
Sometimes there was wire-pulling, but not of a serious character ; but there were impassioned debates, hot words, sharp retorts and personal reflections, but the bitternesses were speedily mollified. It is a great loss to the citizens when the town meeting becomes obsolete as a local forum.
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SENATOR GILLETT-To Frederick Huntington Gillett belonged the distinction of having held a higher office in the national govern- ment than any other citizen of Hampden County. His thirty-eight years in Congress were years of honorable and careful service. His six years as Speaker of the House of Representatives were marked by courtesy, tact and a becoming dignity on notable occasions.
Mr. Gillett was born in Westfield, October 16, 1851. His father, Edward B. Gillett, was one of the ablest lawyers and most polished men of his time in western Massachusetts. His mother was Lucy Fowler, daughter of one of Westfield's prominent citizens. The future Speaker was named after the well-known bishop, Frederick D. Huntington, of Syracuse, New York, and Hadley, who had been a classmate of the father's at Amherst College.
Frederick Gillett's early boyhood was that of a normal boy born into a well-to-do New England family. Then, as throughout his later life, he was fond of outdoor sports, and as a youngster showed his proficiency at baseball and other games. He and some of his West- field cronies had a flat-bottomed boat, which, according to tradition, by virtue of much pulling and hauling, they managed to get down the Westfield River to the Connecticut.
The boy's early education was gained in the Westfield schools. But his father took an unusually deep interest in his progress and developed in the young man the talent for graceful oratory and felicitous expression inherited from himself --- an art in which Fred- erick could scarcely have had a better master. Years afterward, how- ever, at the banquet tendered Mr. Gillett in Springfield in honor of his election as Speaker, he declared that what he was most grateful to his father for was the fact that he had been held to his daily chores at the woodpile. From the discipline of that woodpile he had gained a capacity and a liking for work which had served him through life.
Young Gillett was captain and second baseman of the Westfield Academy nine and after he had completed the rest of the curriculum he went, somewhat unexpectedly, for a year's study in Germany before going to college. In the fall of 1870 he entered Amherst, where he was particularly stimulated by the instruction of Prof. John W. Bur- gess, professor of political science and history.
Speaker Gillett's course at Amherst was marked by his demonstra- tions of ability as a writer and speaker, as a baseball player, as a stu-
Hampden -- 49
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dent of more than ordinary excellence, and as a young man whose personal attractions drew others to him in friendships that were to be lifelong. His classmate, W. E. Judd, of Holyoke, once said of him in after years: "He was not a 'dig,' but he was the best all-round man in the class and the most popular. He was a fellow who played hard and fair every time; one that everybody honored. In short, he showed the same qualities then that have characterized him since."
After his graduation at Amherst, Mr. Gillett studied law at Harvard Law School and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1877, establishing himself in Springfield. After two years of prac- tice, he went to Boston as Assistant Attorney-General of Massachu- setts, where he remained until 1882. Mr. Gillett was later a partner of the late W. W. McClench, who said of him: "Mr. Gillett was always courteous, never harrying or intimidating a witness, and he made a very good impression on juries. He showed a keen grasp of whatever matter he had under consideration, and in his arguments before the Supreme Court particularly showed splendid ability."
In 1891, two years before he went to Washington, Mr. Gillett represented Springfield in the State House of Representatives. His victory at the polls in 1892, when he was put forward as a Massachu- setts candidate for Congress, began the unbroken series of elections which kept him in that body for thirty-eight years and made his service notable in Congressional history.
Mr. Gillett did not rashly try to make a speech the day he entered Congress, but when he did make his first speech it was with a success that gave him a lively satisfaction. As he afterward described his experience :
"The Republicans, their backs to me, heard a strange voice and turned to learn who was addressing them. Their doing so was almost simultaneous and that with their inquir- ing looks, all centered upon my face, was somewhat embar- rassing. I noted, however, that the Democrats were reading newspapers and writing letters, and were not disturbed by any- thing I was saying.
"Therefore, I raised my voice and opened what I hoped would be a vigorous attack on Tammany Hall. Democrats sprang to their feet and assailed me with inquiries and short speeches to which they gave the form of questions. Fortu-
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nately, I was enabled approximately to say what ought to have been said by an amateur debater, and when I sat down all the Republicans, led by Nelson Dingley, of Maine, passed down the aisle at the side of my desk and gave me their congratulations."
When Mr. Gillett reached the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, he issued the following statement : "I have reached the goal of my ambition, a happiness which I suppose comes to few men." As speaker, Mr. Gillett presided with uniform tact and consideration and when Democrats as well as Republicans at the close of each session joined in giving him a vote of thanks it was no perfunc- tory act but a sincere appreciation of his good will.
Mr. Gillett was drafted as candidate for the Senate in 1925 and, though having again to begin at the bottom as far as committee appointments were concerned, he soon came to hold a sort of special position as senatorial spokesman for the White House and his supe- rior, Calvin Coolidge. After six years as Senator he decided to retire and went to California with his wife, formerly the widow of Congress- man Rockwood Hoar, whom he had married in 1915. There he devoted himself to writing a biography of the late Senator George F. Hoar and reminiscences of his own long career.
In an address given at the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration of the town of Westfield in 1919, Mr. Gillett said :
"It is, I believe, by exercising the dominant spirit of the old New England town that our present threatening condi- tions can be remedied. Thrift and self-denial, work and saving, is what our country needs, and that is what our hard- headed, determined, sometimes unattractive, nation-builders developed. They could sacrifice the pleasure of the moment for permanent future enjoyment. It is such self-denial that builds character-it is that which we need today."
JOSEPH B. ELY-An outstanding son of Westfield is Joseph B. Ely, who was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1930 and served two terms. He was the first Democrat from west of Worcester to become Governor in seventy years and defeated the Republican Gov- ernor Allen, who had a record of two successful years in office.
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Joseph Ely was born of the ninth generation of Elys in western Massachusetts on February 22, 1881, and grew up in the atmosphere of a family which had been Democratic for years. His father was Henry Ely, also a lawyer.
In high school he met Harriet Dyson and a romance grew which culminated in their marriage a few years later. From Westfield High School, Joseph Ely went to Williams College and there his political interests developed. In the campaign of 1900 he organized the Wil- liams College Democratic Club in the interests of the Presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who was to him a hero.
Ely was graduated from Harvard Law School in 1905 and at once began to practice by associating himself with his father in Spring- field and Westfield. In 1915 he was appointed district attorney by Governor David I. Walsh and proved an able prosecutor.
Joseph Ely was a champion of Woodrow Wilson and later of Alfred Smith, and was twice a delegate to the party's national con- ventions. When he was elected Governor his home town gave him a tremendous ovation with a parade and fireworks.
In an interview at the close of his terms as Governor, Mr. Ely stated that he felt the public morale was at a low ebb. He cited the prevalence of racketeering in politics and in business, the growth of gambling and the tendency to place all burdens on the government; and added that he regarded a political life as fascinating, but demoral- izing to the individual. He retired from the field to devote himself to his profession and to writing.
Joseph Ely impressed the State with a strong sense of justice and fearlessness in the discharge of his duties. He has always taken a deep interest in the affairs of his home town and served for a number of years on various committees.
The success or failure of a Governor's term of office may be meas- ured by three things: his conduct of the executive department, his ability to direct the course of legislation and his ability to influence public opinion. Governor Ely used the radio and talked directly to the people. He came into office during the depression and early advo- cated an extended system of public works, but one combined with a pay-as-you-go policy and accompanied by strict economy. He succeeded in putting the Boston elevated under public control for another twenty-eight years and created the Fall River Commission when that
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city went into bankruptcy. He labored on the questions of automo- bile insurance, salary cuts, a fairer tax base and bank stabilization.
One of the big crises in Governor Ely's administration was the national textile strike and in a speech on the subject the Governor stated the principle that the State had as much of a duty to protect the right to work as to permit the right to strike. He refused to call out the National Guard, but assured protection to every factory or mill where it was evident that the majority of the workers wished to return.
Agawam, the Mother of Springfield Plantation
CHAPTER IV Agawam, the Mother of Springfield Plantation
Agawam, the mother of Springfield, is also one of its youngest grandchildren. The first house in the Springfield township was built in the Agawam meadows in 1635, but was soon abandoned and Agawam territory became part of the "outward commons."
In 1638 it was voted that it should be lawful for any Springfield man to put over horse, cows, or young cattle on the other side of the river until the first of November, and the name of "Feeding Hills" doubtless comes from the use thus made of unoccupied lands. But it was twenty-five years after the visit of Woodcock and Cable, the men who built the first house, before permanent settlement was made south of the Agawam River. The first grants were made to Thomas Cooper, Abel Leonard and Thomas Mirrick, and within a few years there were a number of settlers scattered about at various points. A part of the territory was known by the early settlers as "Brookfield" from the fact of there being so many small brooks running through it. Three Mile Brook is commonly known as Trout Brook and empties into the Connecticut River near the southeast corner of the town. Philo and Still brooks course through the town for about three miles and then flow over the State border to the south.
The meetinghouse, that important center of both religious and civil life to which the people felt obliged to go on the Sabbath Day, no matter what the weather, was on the other side of the Connecticut River, a pleasant trip on a sunny morning in summer, but equally unpleasant and even dangerous at some seasons of the year. In 1673 the inhabitants petitioned the town for a boat in which to cross the river to attend public worship, feeling that free ferriage should be furnished them, but this was not granted. One Sabbath morning in March, 1683, three members of the Bodurtha family were "drowned
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dead" when the boat upset while they were crossing to the meeting- house. But even this fatal accident did not at once procure a separate parish for the people west of the river, and it was not until 1696 that the parish of West Springfield was created and the Great River no longer had to be crossed on the Sabbath Day.
The history of our present Agawam then became more closely that of West Springfield, though the civil control remained in the hands of Springfield until 1774. Two villages began to develop, one on each of the turnpikes running north and south. One road went from Hartford through Agawam north along the Connecticut River and the other a little farther west, went from Hartford through Feeding Hills to Northampton. The teams and stages travelling these roads stopped at Colonel Moseley's Tavern in Feeding Hills, or Worthington's Inn on the Agawam Road. As business grew and the roads improved eleven or twelve stages a day had to be accommodated and other taverns were started. White's Tavern was near the State line, Leon- ard's at Agawam Center and one on the river road was kept by Ruel Warriner. Colonel Samuel Flower erected one in Feeding Hills about 1760.
When the southern part of West Springfield contained about seventy-five families it succeeded in being made into a separate parish. This happened in 1758 and it was called the Sixth Parish of Spring- field. A brick schoolhouse was built in Feeding Hills about this time and plans made for building a meetinghouse. Captain Samuel Mirick was moderator and Moses Leonard clerk of the first precinct meeting at which seventeen pounds was voted for preaching the gospel.
They decided to locate the meetinghouse in the center of the popu- lation rather than in the center of the territory or in either village, and in 1760 it was built "at ye head of the first branch beyond Ensign Reuben Leonard's." Sufficient rum and cider was provided for the raising and, though not completed, the structure was used the first year. Rev. Mr. Williams, of Springfield, preached the dedicatory sermon on December 3, 1760. The church society was organized with only nine members in addition to the pastor, but twenty others united by letter within a month. For eleven successive years the parish clerk was voted fifty cents annually. Rev. Sylvanus Griswold was installed as pastor with a salary of $225 a year and the use of forty acres of land. An interesting vote about this time was "to choose a
AGAWAM, MOTHER OF SPRINGFIELD PLANTATION 779
committee to see if the persons that are of different ways of thinking from each other in matter of religion may be reconciled together and may let down and enjoy the ordinances of the gospel together in brotherly love." The church society was a mixed one of Congrega- tionalists and Baptists and for some years they succeeded in getting along without too many differences, each respecting the other's form of belief. Then a separate Baptist group was organized and the meetinghouse used jointly by the two church societies. As early as 1727 some persons in Agawam were baptized into the Baptist faith by Elisha Callender, pastor of the first church in Boston.
One historian states that when another Baptist society was formed in 1790 with eleven members services were held in the home of Jona- than Ferre in stormy weather and under the apple trees in the orchard when it was pleasant. Rev. Jesse Wightman was chosen pastor and remained until his death in 1817. So devoted was Mr. Wightman that he preached sitting long after he was unable to stand at the desk. A serious disagreement over singing in the church occurred in 1814 and the observance of communion was suspended several months, but the efforts of the pastor restored harmony and a revival took place the next year.
When a Methodist group was formed in 1802 they also used the same building, which was not completely finished until 1821. The Rev. Sylvanus Griswold remained as pastor in this pastorate over fifty-seven years.
The manufacturing interests of Agawam began, as in so many other settlements, with a sawmill, a necessity for the growth of any community. As early as 1665 a grant was made to Samuel Marsh- field, Thomas Noble, Thomas Miller and Elizur Holyoke of forty acres of land in one place and thirty in another in consideration of their setting up a sawmill "on a brook below Ensign Cooper's farm, over Agawam River." A very generous addition was "they are not to be restrained of the liberty of the commons for all sorts of timber for their use for sawing or otherwise." Other sawmills, gristmills, blacksmith shops and brickyards followed as they were needed.
Over a century ago a peppermint distillery was set up in the southern part of the town by E. Porter. Later potato whiskey was made and finally cider brandy and rye gin. The name of "Agawam Gin" came to be known throughout the region.
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Agawam is said to have had the first cotton mill of any sort in western Massachusetts. It was built in 1810 on land now owned by Riverside Park at the mouth of Three Mile Brook. Thomas Belden, of Hartford, joined with four Agawam men and built the mill. The thread was spun in the mill and sent out among the women of the vicinity to be woven on hand looms. A settlement of houses for the mill help grew up around the mill and was known as "Factory Ground."
The first woolen manufactory in Agawam was a small mill for carding and fulling, built soon after the cotton mill by Justus and Calvin Bedortha. At first only custom work was done, but at the breaking out of the War of 1812 they started making broadcloth. The mill, after various changes, came into the ownership of the Aga- wam Company and stockinet was made during the Civil War.
Wallpaper was made about 1840 by Lyman Whitman and, in 1872, the Worthy Paper Company started the manufacture of high grade linen and ledger papers. This mill was built at Mittineague and used power from the Agawam River, on both sides of which the village lies.
By the aid of a lottery in 1782 a bridge across the Agawam River was "supported" and repaired. George Washington mentioned in his diary that on his second visit to this vicinity he crossed the Aga- wam on a bridge, but that the Connecticut "is crossed by scows sent over with poles." Agawam's Revolutionary War history is a part of Springfield's history, and they along with the rest of West Springfield were among the curious spectators when Burgoyne's army passed through on the way to Boston.
The years from 1795 to 1800 were full of weighty discussions over church matters. Finally, Agawam and Feeding Hills were divided into distinct parishes, and that there would be no misunder- standing over the boundary line between, a ditch was dug the entire length of the town. The meetinghouse was moved to the Feeding Hills Parish and the frame of a church was moved up from Suffield and erected on the common. Captain John Porter donated a bell and the church was painted largely through subscriptions of rye and flax- seed. In 1821 a greater degree of comfort came to the congregation when a chimney was added to the building and stoves set up.
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The Baptist element continued to grow stronger and in 1830 they sold out their share of the church on the common for $600 and built one of their own. It was a church building period for the town for soon the Congregationalists had a new house of worship in Feeding Hills and the Methodists built in the south part of Agawam.
As late as 1845, when the Congregational Church was moved to its present location it was voted to appoint four additional tything men to keep the children and young people quiet and the older people awake during the sermon.
Agawam became a separate town in 1855, retaining the Indian name meaning "Crooked River," first applied to the whole territory acquired by Pynchon and the other proprietors. Its area covered about twenty-two square miles. The population was about 1,500 and the first town meeting was held in the Methodist Church. The citizens had hardly gotten accustomed to ruling themselves when the Civil War began. One hundred and seventy-two men went from the town to aid the Union, fully one-tenth of the whole population, and ten more than the number required of the town. Twenty-two of these died either in battle or from disease. The women of the town formed a Soldiers' Relief Society and scraped lint, rolled bandages and made undergarments for the men at the front. The amount of money expended by the town for the war was nearly $23,000.
The building of the south end bridge in 1879 gave Agawam a close contact with Springfield. The seventy-fifth anniversary of the incor- poration of the town was celebrated with a pageant and other exer- cises at Riverside Park on August 12, 1930.
Indian remains have been found at several places along the Con- necticut and Agawam rivers after spring freshets, and apparently there was an Indian burial place at a point once known as the "Steep Banks" in the vicinity of the Agawam Bridge.
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