USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 29
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A highway from the east cemetery to Miller Corner was projected in 1784 and the same year one across Cedar Swamp. Land damages for road making were at one time one shilling per square rod. In 1793 a petition was sent the county officers to lay out a stretch in
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Ludlow as part of a line which shall "commode the travil from the eastern part of Connecticut to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire."
At the close of this period the deer, wolves and bears must have been mostly driven away, but for a while they were doubtless common. One day a man found a large bear and two cubs. He killed one of the cubs, but the old bear pursued him, driving him to a precipitous rock nearby, where he took refuge. Foiled in her attempt to avenge the death of her young, she kept guard of the place nearly a whole night, springing frequently from the ground up the sides of the rock. But those days have passed away and with them the beasts which infested the region.
There is still shown in town a conch shell used to call the "men- folks" in from the fields the resonant tones of which are said to have been heard three full miles.
In 1813 war was raging with Great Britain and the people were in a state of excitement. All on the seaboard became nervous and flocked inland. Among these refugees from the dangers of the war with England was a small bright-eyed man from Provincetown on Cape Cod. As there was no minister in town he conducted worship on the fast day proclaimed by President Madison, and as a result, so pleased were the people with the sermon, Alexander McClean was hired to preach and Ludlow continued to be his home. "In 1814 there was a great mortality in the town and under the ministrations of Mr. McLean and some evangelists a powerful awakening followed, more extensive than was ever known before."
For some time there had been in Ludlow a few Methodists and an occasional Methodist preacher, but in August, 1802, occurred a notable event in the history of the movement, what is called an "old- fashioned quarterly meeting." The house appointed was too small and was enlarged for the occasion by the addition of a rude shed covered with brush and tree branches. When the preparations were complete crowds assembled, some coming from as far away as Con- necticut. The townspeople were out in force to see the first real demonstration here of what some have been pleased to call "Chris- tianity in earnest." A sermon by the presiding elder, perhaps his grandest effort, made the occasion memorable to all. From this time on were maintained services for some years without much omission. The earliest itinerant preachers were not men of eminent scholastic
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attainments and hence found themselves sometimes at a disadvantage when before many of the New England people. Advantage would frequently be taken of their lack of education by pedantic clergymen of other denominations. Not always, however, did the itinerant come out second best, as is illustrated in the anecdote of Jesse Lee. An orthodox minister addressed him in Greek and he replied in Low Dutch, much to the discomfiture of his antagonist, who supposed the response was Hebrew. The time came, however, when a graduate of Brown University went into the Methodist itinerancy and the new movement received a dignity not before obtained. Wilbur Fisk, pious, learned, eloquent and earnest brought his private school to the neigh- boring town of Wilbraham and from there went into the surrounding towns to preach. Dr. Fisk was not long in winning the confidence of the people and soon there was a demand for a church organization and a house of worship. Captain Joseph Miller furnished the timber and Reverend Isaac Jennison, preacher, architect and boss carpenter, went with the old gentleman and his little grandson to select the tall straight pines for the sills and posts. The ax and the adze were made to fly by none more dexterously than by Parson Jennison, the patient oxen and sturdy drivers conducted the logs to the mill, and soon the hand of Jennison had framed the massive timbers. The crowd which came to that raising saw every stick take its place in order and no rum to help either, thanks to the advance in temperance principles in half a century. The minister, tall in stature, is said to have clap- boarded the gable ends of the house to the ridgepole without resort to any staging. At last the work was done and the building ready for dedication on July 5, 1828.
In the meantime the old church seemed to be gradually succumb- ing to wind and weather and occasionally pressing a claim for repairs with infrequent success. In 1805 glass for the windows and wooden steps were needed. The steps probably were never painted, for some twenty years later steps were again needed, and some who had found it necessary to use an umbrella in church asserted that the roof needed patching. Consequently a solemn vote was taken to stop the "leaks in the roof, if there be any." One year later, the meetinghouse hav- ing been painted in the meantime, a committee of three were instructed to install a stove, the expense to be borne by individuals. The horse sheds were built in 1814. Previous to that time such horses as could
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not be sheltered in neighboring barns during services stood shivering long hours out in the open, covered by a home-tanned cowhide or an old bed quilt. Parties erecting the horse sheds bid for choice of lot, under the direction of the selectmen, and the open bents in the sheds wide enough for one or two teams were then handed down in the family as inheritances. Each man was expected to keep his own part of the sheds in repair, with the final result a hodge podge of good boarding and decay.
It became necessary in 1805 to fence, with posts and rails and half- wall, the yard by the church, and twenty years later the work needed doing over again. Simon Pease, the wit of the town, bid off the repairs to the center yard at the sum of five cents, evidently to post- pone the work until the town would do it with thoroughness. In 1823 the town appropriated thirty dollars for a hearse. Before this time the dead were borne on biers to the grave, sometimes a journey of many miles, the bearers working in relays. A hearsehouse was erected two years later. About this time a proposition to move all the bodies interred in the graveyard was scornfully rejected.
Military organizations probably existed in town during most of its history. In 1808 a goodly number went to a general muster at Old Hadley, but were unsuccessful in getting their expenses paid by the town. The famous Horse Company included recruits from four towns, Springfield, Longmeadow and Wilbraham joining Ludlow. The full number in the company was about forty and the place of drill and muster was usually the Five Mile House, east of Spring- field village. When the War of 1812 broke out this company was in fine order. At drill one day the captain formed them into line and requested all who would volunteer as minute men for the national service to step forward a certain number of paces. Not a man started in obedience to this sudden request until the captain himself advanced to the assigned place, then a large number of the company followed his example, among whom were all the Ludlow men but two, and one of those furnished a substitute.
Facts are facts, however, and it must be recorded that two of these men deserted from the ranks and concealed themselves at their homes. One narrowly escaped capture by concealment for days inside a large stone chimney then standing in the southwest part of the town and by a kindly warning from a female friend who knew officers were on his
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trail. The other was not so fortunate. Taken prisoner, he was court- martialed and sentenced to be shot. The coffin was produced and he was bound and made to kneel on it. The soldiers drawn up to execute the military law included his own brother-in-law. But just as the fatal shot was about to send him to eternity a reprieve was granted and pardon eventually obtained. Among the souvenirs of these days of war is a revenue receipt for a tax of one dollar paid "for and upon a 4 wheel carriage called a waggon and the harness used therefor."
Many families lived in log cabins in the early days, but culture was appreciated as is evidenced by a vote of 1804, when the town appropriated twenty-five dollars "to the present singers, on condi- tion they sing well and still continue to sing to the Edification of the inhabitants of said Town."
When the county of Hampden was formed in 1812 it was a great convenience to Ludlow people, whose distance to the county seat was lessened one-half. Another convenience was the post-office at Put's Bridge, established about three years later. The mail route for a while was through the town from north to south, a man with drawn pistols carrying the precious bag. In 1841 highway labor was paid sixty-seven cents a day in the spring and fifty cents in the fall. As late as 1820 good potatoes brought ten cents a bushel, and yet so far from plenty were they that a man who had a half hogshead of them and another who had four barrels were the wonder of the town.
A thrilling incident in Ludlow history concerned the supposed Annibal murder. In 1817 John Annibal went from Belchertown to Connecticut to peddle wagons. On his return he was seen to enter Ludlow about sundown. Afterward his horse with bridle cut was seen in Granby, his portmanteau and saddle were found in another place and blood was discovered in the road between the two places. Great excitement prevailed as everyone thought he had been mur- dered. An old woman who told fortunes was consulted. She said he had been killed by a one-eyed man, living in a gambrel-roofed house, where three roads met. The house which answered the descrip- tion was searched in the absence of the family, but not the slightest trace of the missing man was found. Then a pond was drained, which necessitated digging twenty-five feet deep at one point. While the
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digging was going on bonfires were kept burning around the pond and sentinels with loaded muskets guarded the spot. When the ditch was completed on Sabbath Day the water was drawn off in the pres- ence of a thousand people. A line of men reaching from one side of the pond to the other, holding each other's hands, waded through the soft mud, but no trace of the missing one was found. A smaller pond nearby was emptied by carrying the water over a hill in pails, but with no result. Many then began to adopt another theory than mur- der as the man had debts he did not wish to pay and marital rela- tions not of the best. A possible sequel to the mystery was the finding of a skull years later at one of the points where suspicion had rested.
Before the opening of the century only the most primitive modes of crossing the Chicopee River were employed, such as "riding-places" or fords. But later bridge after bridge was built in various places, only to fall into disrepair or be swept away in a spring flood. If an individual built a bridge he was entitled to the tolls taken in for crossing. The Jenksville bridge was dedicated in 1823 "to the pro- tection of Almighty God and the use of men." The famous Cooley Bridge turned an angle on an abutment in midstream. It was a cov- ered bridge and one through which no one could see. Its height must have been good, for once some camels passed through. They came in the night, but the boys of the village heard of their coming and one section of the bridge was illuminated. The camels had to stop at the tollhouse at the south end of the bridge while a discussion was held over the rate as such beasts were not on the list. So the boys had a good chance to look at the rare animals.
Very early in the century Rufus Calkins had a little chair shop on Higher Brook, where he made many of the old chairs still to be seen in some of the homes. At one time he also adjusted a spindle by means of which he could spin flax or wool and this was the first manu- facturing of the kind in town. On one mill privilege was a little fulling-mill and not far away a potash plant. A sawmill was at the foot of Burying Ground Hill and a sash and blind shop a few rods above. Ludlow City at one time had a distillery and tar kilns were set up in several places. The once famous Ludlow Glass Works con- sisted of a small building in which were ponderous furnaces. Their main output was green glass bottles. A shop for the manufacture of scythes turned out some of the best in the region.
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At one place on the Chicopee River the water descends along a narrow, rocky channel forty-two feet in a distance of a hundred rods, and less than a mile distant is a fall of sixty-three feet from the top of the dam to the still water below. Here was started, in 1812, nearly the first manufacturing business in the county. At one time the company operating here owned 1,200 acres of land. The first work consisted in preparing yarn and warp, which were woven by people in the region about. Gradually the business grew, additional build- ings were erected and the first looms were set up in 1823, weaving sheeting of various widths up to one yard.
With the development of the manufacturing interest at Jenks- ville new life came to Ludlow. Every farm increased in value as the factories developed. Every article produced was worth money. It no longer paid to team lumber to Willimansett for fifty cents on a thousand, for the logs were worth more as fuel. The cattle became too valuable to send roaming at large over the common lands, for it was worth while to feed them well and so get heavier beef. The factories were enlarged several times, each new part being dedicated by religious services. Tenements for the workers were erected from time to time and in 1837 ten thousand spindles were turning. Nearly three hundred people were employed, two-thirds of whom were women.
In 1840 the first building at the upper privilege was erected and used for making gun barrels for the United States Government. Later cotton machinery was made there. The growth of the mills in Lud- low brought in new people and the life of the manufacturing village changed greatly. One who resided in Jenksville about this time wrote as follows :
"As you pass the gun shops (on Sunday) some of the workmen would be busy. Nearby would be a collection of boys playing ball. A little farther on are as happy a set as the brown jug could possibly make them. I have known a large field of rye to be harvested on the Sabbath Day. These immoralities did not extend outside of the village."
There was also some minor manufacturing during these years. Fisk's mill at Ludlow City made a durable and beautiful woolen fabric and carded fleeces from the farms. Another mill turned out
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forks and rakes. Meantime the affairs of the Springfield Manufac- turing Company, which owned the big mills, went on with apparent prosperity and people were glad to invest their money with them. Once in a while creditors were asked to accept company notes, but the crisis came suddenly in 1848, when a failure was announced. Many a person lost all he had and it was a bad year for Ludlow. The town appropriations for the next year fell fourteen per cent. The prosperity of the town and the welfare of the churches have been closely interlinked and the latter felt the failure of the manufactur- ing company deeply, but soon were on their way upward again. The Reverend Franklin Fisk did some good work in the Methodist Society. One innholder took his liquors to the street, poured them out and renounced his life of sin. Later the Wesleyan Praying Band of Springfield rendered efficient service in special religious work. This church suffered a severe loss of membership in the Rebellion.
The first Ludlow Manufacturing Company followed the firm of Wood and Merritt, which had the mills up to 1856. They manu- factured jute goods and wadding. Later there was the Ludlow Mills Company and then another Ludlow Manufacturing Company, which turned out "gunny" bagging, plain and figured crash, hardware twines and linen warps. They had connected with the mills thirty houses and a church, besides barns and sheds. The waterpower was estimated at over twenty-five hundred horsepower, only a small portion of which was in use.
After the financial failure at Jenksville in 1848 neither religious society was in a very good condition. The Methodists were left high and dry on a shoal of an eighteen-hundred dollar debt and finally the building was sold and moved to Warren, where it serves for the same denomination.
Roads and bridges received much attention during this period. The highway across Cedar Swamp was ever in need of repair and iron bridges replaced wooden ones. Red Bridge, destined to hold its name for many years, whether red or not, was thoroughly overhauled in 1873. The opening of the Western Railroad, now known as the Boston and Albany, was of much interest to the town and some value. The Springfield, Athol and Northeastern failed to secure town aid and passed only through the outskirts of the township. The construc- tion of this railroad required another bridge across the Chicopee,
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spanning the stream at Indian Leap, where the new aqueduct for the city of Springfield also crossed.
There were few towns more active than Ludlow during the Rebel- lion and none more loyal. April 27, 1861, the citizens appropriated two thousand dollars for bounty to those who would enlist and the next year a hundred dollars was offered to each of seventeen men who were called for. Meeting after meeting was held, keeping the interest red hot. One hundred and nine men are listed as in the Civil War from Ludlow, and of these sixteen went out and never came back. To these a memorial was dedicated in the summer of 1867.
In the year 1873 Springfield started work on the Cherry Valley Reservoir to add to its water supply and Ludlow brooks were diverted into an aqueduct leading to that city. The erection of a dam caused a good deal of worry to the people living below it, as the catastrophe at Williamsburg, when the Mill River Dam gave way, was fresh in their minds. The first pipe line followed the highway and had branches a mile or so apart for flushing out the main line. These played a part in the rescue of James Hancock, a superintendent, who entered the big pipe at one time to make some repairs. The water had been properly drained out before he went in, but there was a leak in the outer gate and an assistant was horrified to discover pres- ently that there was three feet of water against the inner gate. To open the gate meant washing Hancock fatally on to Springfield and the bewildered assistant ran down the main street to the Center to spread the news. Bells were rung and the people gathered and discussed plans of rescue. Men were ready to dig, but could not decide where. At last one man had the bright idea of calling to the superintendent through the side branches. The second one tried met with a response from the imprisoned man and showed him very much alive and able to use vigorous language. The idea of letting the water out a little at a time was suggested by somebody and Jim was warned. Through the side pipe his rescuers kept in touch with him, asking: "Can you stand to have a little more let out?" and when the flume was finally drained Jim made his way back out of the pipe, vociferously condemn- ing nobody in particular, but thanking the men for his rescue.
At the Ludlow centennial in 1874 one toast introduced was : "Our mother, boasting of riches and independence, must yet ask a drink of water from her child." Charles O. Chapin, chairman of the
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board of water commissioners in Springfield, made a pleasant speech in response, which helped smooth the ruffled feelings of those who claimed the larger place was not fair to the smaller, and ended with the wish that "the record of all differences may be written only in water."
Of the many distinguished citizens, Ludlow has produced two who stand out from the rest. They are Chester W. Chapin and Gordon M. Fisk. Mr. Chapin, though born in Ludlow, was a descendant of the well-known Chicopee Chapin family and attended the district school there, later going to the academy at Westfield. After a short period of keeping bar, managing a store and building mills, he became interested in stage lines in the Connecticut valley. From that profit- able business it seemed a natural step to steamboats and railroads, where he was again successful. In 1855 he went to England and negotiated a loan of half a million dollars for improvements on the Western Road, of which he was president, and which later was con- solidated into the Boston and Albany. Other interests included the Collins Paper Company, the Agawam Canal Company and the Chapin Banking and Trust Company of Springfield. Mr. Chapin was natu- rally prudent and conservative, but quick to grasp the need of a new development. It was a natural thing that his crowning honor was to represent his district at Washington.
Mr. Fisk, one of seven sons in the family, was named after a son of Dr. Aaron Miller, who accompanied the name with a gift of three sheep. The district school, with Dr. Johnson's dictionary and the Westminster catechism furnished his schooling. His life work started at the age of twenty-one with the buying of an old printing press in Enfield, and in 1850 he issued the first number of the Palmer "Jour- nal," which he continued for many years. Mr. Fisk was State Senator for two years and held many public offices of various kinds.
Recent years in Ludlow have been years of growth in many ways. Because of the rapidly increasing school population a new schoolhouse was built at East Street in 1923 and an addition to the high school in 1927. About the same time the St. Jean de Baptist Church erected a parochial school to accommodate three hundred pupils. In the last fifteen years four of the principal highways of the town, East and West streets, Belchertown Road and Miller Street, have been paved and utilized as State roads.
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Ludlow celebrated the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation as a district in 1924. The exercises covered a three- day period, with old-home day features, appropriate speeches and a fine historical pageant.
An unusual civic accomplishment was the establishment of a town forest in 1925. There are now one hundred and fifteen acres com- pletely planted and, in time, it will be a financial asset to the town.
The Stevens Memorial Building is a clubhouse for operatives of the mills, which fills a great need, and is in almost constant use. Con- nected with it is a fine athletic field, with a cinder track, a wading pool and a playground for children. The Ludlow Country Club was founded in 1924 and now has a fine clubhouse and an eighteen-hole golf course.
The large number of voters in the town has made it increasingly hard in late years to function under the old form of town meeting, so in 1930 the representative form of town government was adopted. The present population numbers 8,569. The following year the steel bridge which spanned the Chicopee River at the entrance to Ludlow village was replaced by a modern bridge.
Ludlow has a small hospital which was established in 1907 and remodeled to make more room for beds in 1934.
Industrially, the town has seen considerable change. The Lud- low Manufacturing Associates purchased, in 1928, the National Net and Twine Company of Moodus, Connecticut; the Smith and Dore plant of Andover, Massachusetts; and the mills of the J. B. Bar- bour Sons, at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Paterson, New Jersey. These plants were sold and the machinery moved to Ludlow, where the manufacture of fish nets and linen threads is now carried on. In 1934 the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates demolished Mills 5 and 6 and the following year Mills 1, 2 and 3, the machine shop, the service building and the main office were torn down.
During the World War four hundred and fifteen men from Lud- low were enlisted in the American Army or with other armies of the Allied forces.
Monson and Its Early Woolen Mills
CHAPTER XIV
Monson and Its Early Woolen Mills
The first house erected in Monson was built by Richard Fellows, of Springfield, about 1658, and was used as a tavern. At that time it was the only house between Springfield and Brookfield. Fellows petitioned the General Court to grant him two hundred acres on the Chicopee River, promising to furnish lodgings and provisions for both man and horse, "with beer, wine and strong liquors." He received the grant on condition that the house be built within one year and maintained for seven years. Landlord Fellows made a good start, but for fear of the Indians abandoned the place within a year or two, burying his tools when he left, no doubt intending to return when the danger was over. These tools were plowed up eighty years later by Captain James Merrick. The tavern stood on the north side of the Bay Path and on the east side of Chicopee Brook.
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