USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 3
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Mr. Smith married a Springfield girl, Belle Townsley, whose father was a prominent business man. Upon the death of Mr. Town- sley, it became necessary that someone manage his extensive real estate holdings in this vicinity, and the task fell into the collector's capable hands. In 1871 he decided to make his home here, and part of his collection was brought to the city, the rest following later. His
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wife was also an ardent collector, especially of wonderful laces and embroideries, and fine needlework of all descriptions.
The first art exhibition of any significance in Springfield occurred in 1878, through the interest stimulated by Mr. Smith. At that exhibit he showed fifty-six pictures, and out of these only twenty remained unsold. Through his instigation these art exhibits became an annual feature in the cultural life of Springfield. In 1882 he went abroad to add to his collection, and while in Italy, was successful in obtaining a famous fragment of a painting by Titian, all that survived the fire which consumed the church wherein it rested. Mr. Smith considered this his most valued possession, although there were many others which delighted him almost as much.
There are cloisonné enamels of almost unbelievable beauty to the true lover of art. To name a few outstanding pieces, there is a Chinese incense burner, or Koro, of superb texture, resting on the back of three white birds whose graceful necks are all turned in the same direction ; a garden seat dating back to the Ming dynasty, in the late fourteenth century, barrel-shaped and studded with brass rings and nubs; groups of Chinese porcelains of rare delicacy; powder blue vases and black- mirrored marriage cases. For lovers of jade, the museum is a para- dise, as well as for those who lean toward Chinese teakwood and mahogany. Visiting Orientals, well versed in art, have said that the Smith collection is equal to anything they have seen in their native land, even in the finest collections.
Each piece is a "museum piece," the best of its kind. There are rich rugs and carpets from Turkey and other parts of Asia Minor. The fineness of the rugs may be seen in that 1,5 10,425 knots were tied by some Persian master in one of the silk prayer rugs of the collection, and some of the Sehnas are so fine in weave that they contain four hundred knots to the square inch.
In 1895, during the term in which James Rumrill served as president of the art museum, the present building on the quadrangle was built to house the magnificent collection, and to provide room for the constant additions which Mr. Smith was making. This build- ing, of polished Pompeiian brown brick, was at that time perhaps the finest building of its type in the entire country, and today is still in the front ranks of art museums. In 1914 Mr. and Mrs. Smith formally
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gave their combined collections to the art museum, with an endow- ment fund. Later a wing was added to the main building.
In the privacy of a few old houses there are noteworthy por- traits of past generations of much fame in their day; for example : one of Chester Harding's most striking portraits of Daniel Webster long hung in Highland Place and later was the property of the Algon- quin Club of Boston. Mr. Harding made his home in the town from 1830 to his death in 1866, when he was nearly seventy-four years old and full of honors. He belonged in the Connecticut Valley, for he was grandson of a Deerfield farmer on his father's side and of a Whately farmer on his mother's, while he himself was born in the adjoining town of Conway. He had a youth of minor adventuring in peddling, and scrambled into portrait painting through sign painting, with little education of any sort and none in art. Yet he became the vogue in Boston to such a degree that he had a long waiting list, and he was a notable success in Great Britain, not only on one visit, but on several, painting royal highnesses and others of high degree. Mr. Harding's "Egotistigraphy," which he wrote for his family, and which was published with further notes by his daughter, is a record of a note- worthy man. His personal appearance was remarkable, for he was six feet three inches in height and nobly proportioned.
Will Bradley, a really brilliant designer of imaginative art, lived for a time in Springfield and later received fabulous prices for his decorative art, which never failed in surprises.
The Museum of Natural History was organized in 1859, which makes it one of the earliest in the country. Daniel L. Harris, who had returned from Europe with a collection of curios, determined to found a museum of this type, and he had the enthusiastic support of other men, John King, George Otis, Jr., and Reuben Chapman. In a year they had gathered in the old city hall a good representation of Indian relics and about 6,000 natural history specimens. As time went on other interested people made their contributions, both in speci- mens and in money, so that the "Ethnological and Natural History Museum," as it was called, warranted expansion. In 1899 the first separate museum of Natural History was erected with money donated by over a hundred citizens. The increased activities made it necessary to enlarge the museum in 1934. This was accomplished largely from the Stephen E. Seymour fund at a cost of over $125,000.
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Now the visitor can see enough in the ten galleries to interest him for hours. There is a modern aquarium of sizeable proportions, with its fine collection of native fishes ; a number of astronomy alcoves and the Seymour planetarium, which is to be equipped with a modern projector; many natural history groups and habitat groups with background paintings of great beauty. It is pleasing to note that although there is an infinite number of exhibits to show the public, the museum has a definite policy of emphasizing local natural history- the history of Hampden County and the Connecticut Valley.
The group called "The Indian Workshop" represents a scene where Indians of this region are cutting chunks of rock from steatite or soapstone boulders. These chunks were later hollowed out into bowls, which were used for grinding food or to carry liquids. The location of this workshop was a pasture in North Wilbraham, from which the entire boulder was transported to the museum and placed in a separate section of its own. 1127395
On it are marks where the Indians had started to chip out more chunks. In the soil nearby were found implements and pieces of stone bowls broken in the process of making them. Through the pasture are scattered pits and steatite fragments in the bottom, to show that several of the boulders had been completely worked up. These boul- ders were left there by the melting glacier that centuries ago covered much of the eastern part of North America. To obtain tools to work on the boulders the Indians paddled down the Chicopee River and obtained the naturally hard, sharp-edged trap rock at the Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke ranges. The life-like figures in the Indian work- shop group were reconstructed from skeletal remains found near the fork of the Connecticut and the Chicopee rivers.
The museum, great as is its cultural contribution to Springfield, is not maintained by the city financially. Like all the other museums in the group, it exists through the generosity of public-spirited donors. Aside from its natural value, it sponsors other programs under its director, Grace P. Johnson. Among these are free lectures and spe- cial exhibits, classes for nature study, including modeling, story hours and contests for children, and a general systematic cooperation with the public schools.
The William Pynchon Memorial Building, at the north end of the museum lawn, houses relics from every period of the city's growth
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which have been accumulated by the Connecticut Valley Historical Society. Completed in 1927, it is a lasting tribute to the founder of Springfield.
The museum is a two-story colonial building with an "L" at the rear. The doorway, adapted from that of the old Samuel Porter house in Hadley, is the outstanding feature of the exterior. Its exquisite design represents some of the best decorative detail of the period. The top is of the curved, broken-pediment style, while in the pediment itself is a pedestal topped by a carved pineapple, a feature taken from the old pineapple doorway in Salem. The fan-shaped windows in the gable ends of the building, and the arched rear porch with its door were copied from the Chapin house.
The Pynchon Building has none of the formality or monumental coldness sometimes associated with museums. Its charm lies in its atmosphere of an old New England home. As the visitor stands in the wide hallway, everything about him combines to give this impres- sion. On either side doors open into rooms which might have been lived in two or three hundred years ago, faithful as to furnishings and appointments down to the last detail. The door latches and the hinges are reproduced from early days, and the nails in the floors themselves have been cleverly made to look like hand-wrought iron. Clean white woodwork, decorative paneling, and bright panorama wallpaper add to the effect. A graceful staircase leads up to an old door on the landing. The wallpaper represented here is a copy of "Scenic America" which was painted by F. Zipelius and Eugene Ehra- man, of Mulhouse, in 1834.
Shading off into a blue sky, the wallpaper blends into the upper hall color scheme of light blue-grey, on which are shown scenes of Niagara Falls, New York Harbor, Boston Harbor, West Point, the Natural Bridge of Virginia and the Winnebago Indians.
The east room downstairs is the dining room, patterned after a McIntire design of an old Salem house. The wallpaper is a hand- blocked pattern, taken from the Ropes house at Salem. Valuable pieces of pink luster, blue canton and willow ware line the ancient shelves of the corner cupboards, and on top are delicately-tinted carved shells. A heavy mahogany table is in the center of the room, and four Hitchcock chairs. A Sheraton buffet as well as a drop-leaf mahogany table stand against the wall. The fireplace, dated about
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1750, contains a foot stove and a small grill, and over it hangs a convex mirror with gilded frame. Pewter mugs and miscellaneous glassware add charming touches.
At the rear of the first floor is an early colonial kitchen with its huge old fireplace and crude iron or pewter utensils. This unique room and its furnishings were the gift of Brewer Corcoran.
The iron balcony hanging on the north wall of the curator's office was taken from Uncle Jerry Warriner's house on Howard Street, where Jenny Lind stood as she sang to the children of Springfield.
In the upper hall there is furniture from the old Pelatiah Glover home, and also a Saint Gaudens' bust of Chester W. Chapin. From this hall open two front chambers called the Chapin rooms. The west chamber has a wainscoting, plastered and painted walls, and sliding window shutters. The furniture is principally Chapin fur- niture. The Chapin desk itself is two hundred years old, and there is also Chester W. Chapin's wooden cradle, and his grandmother's portrait. There is the old Pynchon armchair as well as an unusual four-poster bed from the Hayes-Swazey collection. The floor boards of the room are taken from the old Dwight house on Howard Street, and covered with a hand-woven carpet on which there are small hooked rugs. The main feature of the east chamber is the spatter work painted floor, which is partially covered with braided rugs.
The Memorial Building has a real, old-fashioned attic, reached by a closed staircase. The windows were from the old Ely tavern on Dwight Street, and the beams and doors from Monson. There is a spinning wheel, flax wheel and loom set up ready for use, a cobbler's bench and an ancient cheese press.
The west wing holds a lecture hall, where the dedication services for the building were held. The east wing bears the name of Solomon Griffin Memorial Hall in honor of the man who gave his best services for many years as a director and an officer of the society. Collec- tions from the Springfield room at the library have been placed here, and built-in cases protect books and maps from deteriorating because of exposure to the air. Of particular interest among special exhibits is the original deed of William Pynchon, dated 1652, and another document which dates back to 1525. In the cases are various types of old glassware and china, and on the wall hangs a picture of the
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old fort built in 1660. Another feature is the library and reference shelves, where material on the history of Springfield may be found.
The most recent among the splendid buildings comprising the museum group is the Museum of Fine Arts. Dedicated in 1933, this modern building stands on the west side of the quadrangle. The building itself has a stately simplicity.
The galleries are arranged so that they open into each other. The outer ring of galleries goes around the perimeter, but there is also an inner ring from which any of the outer galleries can be reached with ease. The levels are modulated into an ascending series so that a visitor standing on the threshold can see almost the entire depth of the museum, and there is no uncomfortable sense of being imprisoned in a small close space.
The museum has a thoroughly up-to-date air-conditioning system which sprays the incoming air with water and cools it. The lighting is bright and the dark marble used for the great arch near the land- ing by contrast brings out the brilliant hall, framing the objects exhibited. A variety of marbles, American, French, Italian and Bel- gian, make up the halls, while the exterior of the building is of Indiana limestone with Deer Island granite as the base.
It was through a large grant of money by James Philip Gray that the purchasing of fine paintings was made possible, and an additional gift by Mrs. Gray provided for the building. The museum is also building up a collection of fine prints to supplement the Wallace etch- ings and the Bidwell loan collection of Japanese prints.
The policies of this splendid museum are modern throughout. Where the old type of art museum had only its exhibits and nothing more, the Springfield institution sponsors numerous activities such as educational classes and lectures, and of late has presented old and rare cinemas.
The museum recently held a unique exhibit of early furniture, made by noted Springfield craftsmen of long ago, as well as master workmen from other towns nearby. This exhibit, of very decided local interest, included chairs, tables, desks, and mirrors, created by such men as Jacob Morse, the master clockmaker of Westfield; Cal- vin Bedurtha, of Agawam; Jacob Sargeant, William Lloyd, Moses Beach and numerous others from Springfield. The furniture repre- sented ranged through those periods most treasured by collectors.
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Each craftsman had his own shop, and each piece he made was a labor of love, the work of joining, carving and finishing being done entirely by himself. These rare specimens of the cabinetmaker's art which were exhibited not only represented Springfield and Hampden County, but were representative of early furniture throughout the colonies.
The museum housed in Building 19 of the United States Armory group probably contains as fine and complete a collection of small arms as can be found anywhere in the country. Longfellow visited Springfield in 1843, and the inspiration for his famous arsenal poem came from one of these buildings.
The "Life of Longfellow," edited by Samuel Longfellow, says : "His wife pleased her husband by remarking: 'How like an organ looked the ranged and shining gun barrels which covered the walls from floor to ceiling,'" and suggested how death would bring mourn- ful music from them. An exhibition feature since arranged in the museum is known as the "Organ," where rifles are so placed as to look like the shining pipes of that instrument. The museum contains, too, the only complete collection of firearms made at the arsenals in Spring- field, Harper's Ferry and Rock Island, as well as every make of rifle used by the United States in the World War.
The museum occupies the second and third floor of the building adjoining the administration building, and also contains rare and antique specimens of arms and armor from other parts of the world. Perhaps the center of interest in the entire place is a rare rifle car- ried by a Union soldier during the Civil War. Just as he fired it, in the midst of a hot battle, a Confederate bullet entered the muzzle. The bullets never met, however, the gases compressing between them and causing some of the barrel to be blown out.
A great part of this rich collection of arms was damaged by a fire which swept the museum in 1931. The fire, which started at a workbench located on the second floor, was discovered by a watchman late in the evening, and although he immediately gave the alarm, measures were taken too late to save a number of the specimens.
From the World War to the Tercentenary
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CHAPTER XXXIII
From the World War to the Tercentenary
With the entry of America into the World War, Springfield started on a feverish two years of intense activity. When the bulle- tin boards of the newspapers announced that at last America had joined the Allies in the fight against Germany, many young men enlisted immediately, and later others were drafted to swell the total of Springfield's soldier contribution, which in the form of the 104th Regiment performed valiant service in France. The day when these boys in khaki marched down Main Street and away was one never to be forgotten.
The United States Armory on Main Street was a great beehive of activity as workers toiled day and night to turn out arms and munitions. Its grounds teemed with guards, alert against any pos- sibility of bombing by enemy spies, and ready with a stern challenge to the stranger who approached the gates. Industries throughout the city boomed day and night, and every available man and many women went to work at the machines to turn out the products neces- sary for conducting a great war. The people of Springfield endured the hardships at home with great courage, as the boys in the army abroad endured theirs. There were meatless days, sugarless days and butterless days, and sometimes heatless days, to conserve the resources of a country at war. Even children in primary schools contributed their pennies to the common cause. Financially, the city far exceeded its quota of Liberty Bonds, investing thousands of dollars in this manner, and the war chest quota was also topped by a goodly margin.
There were other factors which made the period even more dif- ficult. One was the influenza epidemic which spread like wildfire through the city and took its toll of the residents. In the winter of 1918 a coal shortage came, and many houses went without heat in as trying a winter as the city ever had. The schools were forced to close
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for several weeks because of this shortage of fuel. But the hard winter passed into warm weather, and with the advent of summer, news came from the front that the Allied troops were slowly pushing the Germans back, and that the end of the war seemed to be in sight. The 104th, of Springfield, was taking an important part and each day anxious relatives stood in front of the bulletin boards or scanned the newspapers for news of fatalities. On November 11, 1918, came the signing of the Armistice and Springfield was the scene of a wild cele- bration, as was every city in America. The celebration was even wilder later when the men in khaki came marching home, the ranks thinned, but glad in the knowledge that the war was over.
Springfield may well be proud of the showing the 104th Regiment made in France during the World War. In the battles of April 10, 12 and 13 of 1918, this regiment, subject to violent bombardments and attacked by heavy German forces, checked a dangerous advance and retook at the point of the bayonet several important and strategic positions.
The 104th was the first American regiment ever to be decorated by a foreign army. The ceremony took place on the Boucq plateau, only a short distance from the battle-torn front, and as the music of the "Star Spangled Banner" and the "Marseillaise" rose into the air, it was mingled with the dull rumble of heavy guns. A line of one hundred and eighteen men led by Colonel George H. Shelton, then commandant of the regiment, stood at attention as the French Army's representative, General Passaga, affixed the famous Croix de Guerre to the lowered colors of the regiment. The French general then decorated each man with the French War Cross for bravery in action.
Two years before, the old 2d Massachusetts Infantry had given promise of what it would do later. Encamped in New Mexico and acting as "Blackjack" Pershing's guard over his base of supplies and also as his communication unit, the regiment received much favorable comment from regular army officers who had been doubtful of guards- men's value as soldiers. General Charles S. Farnsworth, then a colonel and Pershing's base commander at Columbus, New Mexico, stated that he had been agreeably surprised at the excellence of the regiment in aiding Pershing's long reach into Mexico. In October, 1916, the regiment returned to Massachusetts and paraded before the Governor and other Springfield State officials, and General Persh- ing himself wrote a letter of commendation.
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In March of 1917, the old 2d Massachusetts Regiment was again called out to the number of 2,005, an increase of almost five hundred over the quota of the border days. After four months of railway guard duty covering several hundred miles of track from Fitchburg to the State line, the regiment finally mobilized in Westfield to go overseas as the 104th Massachusetts Regiment. Though different battalions set sail from different points, a majority of the unit were in the same convoy of ships leaving Halifax, September 28, 1917.
A month passed in the transports, in English camps, and in the well-known "hommes 40 chevaux 8", before the regiment was once more together. A reorganization and training period at Neufchateau followed, and finally the 104th entered the front. From then on it showed great bravery and efficiency at Chemin-des-Dames, in the Toul sector, at Chateau-Thierry and in the Argonne. The 104th, which had left Springfield under the command of Colonel Hayes, saw much of its action under other leadership, as Colonel Hayes was later transferred.
There was a great deal of shifting around of parts of the 104th, and many of the men fought in different sectors. James A. Rivers was a Springfield officer who distinguished himself with the 104th. He received his first baptism of fire with British and Canadian troops, was later wounded at Belleau Wood, and then commissioned a captain the day before the St. Mihiel drive. Captain Rivers was one of the sixty officers chosen to eat Christmas dinner with President Wilson and General Pershing at Montigny-le-roi on Christmas Day of 1918.
Another member of the 104th who distinguished himself was Dr. W. A. R. Chapin, today a well-known Springfield physician. Dr. Chapin was commissioned a first lieutenant in the medical corps and sailed for England, first serving with the British 12th Infantry Regi- ment, composed of the remnants of one of Kitchener's famous original five divisions. Dr. Chapin was wounded twice and decorated with the British Military Cross for gallantry under fire. The list of the valiant is long in the 104th and many were killed or died of their wounds. The regiment returned to the United States in April of 1919, their ranks having been thinned by almost eight hundred men.
There was in 1919 an inevitable reaction to the feverish industrial activity of the war. This was felt particularly at the armory, where hundreds of skilled workmen were thrown out of employment. Some
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of the skilled men found work when the Rolls-Royce Company, makers of the "finest cars in the world," began American production in East Springfield, near the Westinghouse. This plant turned out very few cars in comparison with those produced by the standard and cheaper makes, but each car was a work of mechanical art in itself.
The community chest was started at this time, a city-wide charity to which practically every resident, no matter how humble his means, manages to give something for the worthy charitable purposes it spon- sors. The Federal Land Bank was organized specifically for the benefit of the farmer in his agricultural pursuits and opened a fine modern building on the corner of Byers and Chestnut streets seven years later to take care of its expanding business.
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