USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 33
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Considerable of the southern boundary of the town is formed by the deep narrow gorge of Little River, which includes some of the wildest scenery in the county.
At the foot of Mt. Tekoa is an old Indian burial ground, which can be seen from the main highway across the river. Punch Bowl Mountain was so named because of its bowl-shaped summit.
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On Glasgow Mountain, or "Little Tekoa" as it is now called, is found a black serpentine rock which has been quarried to some extent. It contains so much iron that when pulverized it is sensitive to the influence of a magnet.
The Richmond Iron Company had charcoal works in Russell at one time and there were glove and shirt manufactories as well as other interests.
At Crescent Mills Village there was originally a flour mill about 1840. Later the Chapin and Gould Paper Company operated there and the village changed almost entirely to Polish residents.
The most widely known man who went out from Russell was probably Reuben Atwater Chapman, who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1868. He was born of poor parents, who could afford him little in the way of education, but at the age of seventeen he earned some money by teaching in the district school of his neighborhood. Then he was employed as clerk in a store and joined a debating society. Here his native ability for argument and oratory was developed and he soon became known as one of the most promising young men in the vicinity. He studied law under General Alanson Knox, of Blandford, and was admitted to the bar in 1825. After trying a practice in several towns he settled in Springfield as partner of George Ashmun, the famed legal giant of the old bar. Mr. Chapman continued to grow in professional strength, but he also kept up his studies in mathematics and became proficient in French and German.
In 1882 a farm boy left Ticonderoga, New York, and went to work for the Agawam Paper Company at Mittineague. This was Horace A. Moses, who in 1905 was president of the Woronoco Paper Company when it took over the Fairfield Mills. Six years later the Woronoco Company and the Mittineague Paper Company were merged and became the Strathmore Paper Company.
The No. 2 mill, with about four and one-half acres of floor space, started work in 1913. It is a finely equipped mill with washers and beaters and rotary boilers, drying lofts and finishing rooms, and various devices to make the paper more uniform and to hold the moisture con- tent without variation. The company is constantly on the lookout for better and more economical methods and is not afraid to invest money in improvements.
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RUSSELL, WHICH INCLUDES WORONOCO
The two hundred and fifty-one employees of the Strathmore Com- pany have an average output of 360,000 pounds of paper a week. Formerly this was all rag paper, but now a considerable amount of wood pulp is used. A fine grade of blue print paper is made and a popular rag content bond. A few cents a week are usually found among the rags, but it is some time since a twenty dollar gold piece has been found. The paper company owns fifty-five houses, which is almost all of Woronoco. These are rented to the married employees and the others are housed in Strathmore Inn, a very pleasant place of increasing popularity, where the food is good and the view up the valley is beautiful.
The Community Club has a fine building and a full time leader in charge of recreational work for all ages. The children have super- vised garden work as well as supervised sports.
The Strathmore Company generates most of its own power in a hydro-electric station and a steam turbine plant, but is also connected with the New England Power Company. The flood of 1936 did little damage to the mills, which had only about a foot and a half of water in the basement, but at the hydro-electric station the water was eighteen feet deep. The generators were drenched and had to be cleaned and many instruments were put out of order. The river bank was undermined and the town water line broken, but the pipe lines to the mills held.
The population of the town of Russell rose to eight hundred and seventy-nine in 1890 and since that time has increased to around 1,400.
Southwick, and Congamond Lakes
.
CHAPTER XVIII
Southwick, and Congamond Lakes
Southwick was originally a part of Westfield. The first settler, Samuel Fowler, came from that town in 1734 and built his home in what was then known as Poverty Hills. The barrenness of the soil gave the name to the region, but proper cultivation has increased the fertility and succeeding generations have produced good crops. Fowler's house is still standing on what is now the College Highway, the old road south from Westfield into Connecticut. It has a small room in the center built of brick and receives light only from the surrounding rooms. It is supposed that this was planned as a refuge in case of attack by the Indians.
Other settlers rapidly followed Fowler and about thirty-five fami- lies were settled in this region in the next twenty years. The people made the long journey to Westfield for Sabbath services and to attend town meetings for a long time, though as early as 1765 they petitioned the mother town to be set off as a separate township.
Three lakes, known as the North, South and Middle Congamond lakes are situated in the southeast corner of the town. They contain about six hundred acres. The project was early conceived of draining this area for the rich land which could be formed from its bed. This work was undertaken by a company in England, for whom Joseph Forward, an early settler, acted as agent. A canal, which can still be traced, was started in a northerly direction toward Westfield, but the project was found impracticable and was never completed. The ponds remain, surrounded by camps, summer cottages and bathing beaches, a source of pleasure for boating and swimming. Ice is cut from them in the winter and they are yearly stocked with fish.
These lakes or ponds received their name from the tribe of Conga- muck Indians, descendants of whom still maintain their own colony in the southwest part of the town. Many arrowheads and toma-
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hawks, as well as cooking utensils, have been found in this region on the farms and around the shores. The remnants of this well-known tribe number about a hundred, but have so intermarried with whites and negroes that they have practically lost their identity as Indians and are classed as mulattoes. There is a chief who is known as King Philip, but his title is one of name only. They do some farm work and their beautiful reed baskets are a source of income, but they are not, as a whole, thrifty and self-sustaining.
A Congregational church was organized in Southwick on August 17, 1773, and the following October Rev. Abel Forward was ordained as its pastor. He ministered to the people for thirteen years, for most of that time in the first meetinghouse, which was built about a mile south of what is now the center. As was usual in those times, the structure was raised and roofed and the people began to use it at once, hoping to complete it gradually. It is probable, however, that it never was entirely finished, for a new meetinghouse was built in 1783 at the Center.
Southwick was granted a district organization by the General Court in 1770, but its early records have been lost. One book came accidentally into the possession of a young woman who did not realize its historic value and she used its first pages for a scrap book. The little that was saved throws some light on the spirit of the people, for in 1775 they voted to supply the district with one barrel of powder and one hundred and fifty pounds of lead. On the same date it was voted "to give Amos Loomis nine shillings for seeping (sweeping) the meting hose, and feching water for crisning."
The original spelling in these records show the need of a school and the first one was built in 1771, near the old meetinghouse. It remained in that place until the Dickinson family gave land at the Center for a school site in 1845, and the building there erected received the name of the donors.
The cemetery was located by the old meetinghouse, where it received its first body, that of Elizabeth Hough, in 1770.
The approach of the Revolution gave to Southwick, as to a num- ber of other towns, the chance to change from a district without rep- resentation to a town with full powers, and it was incorporated in 1775. It was named after Southwick in England, a town at the mouth of the Wear River. It had then a population of about eight
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hundred and it at once voted the sum of fifteen pounds for schools. A road was laid out between Mr. Forward's land and that of James Smith, which is followed now by the College Highway. One of the first acts after the election of town officers was to raise a company of twenty-five minute men. The town declared in favor of independence and Jonathan Hare was sent as delegate to the Provincial Congress. A bounty of thirty shillings was offered for each of nine men to enlist in the expedition against Canada and later bounties were fifteen and thirty pounds. A large number of Southwick men were enrolled under Lieutenant-Colonel Shepard, of Westfield, and later many reënlisted and served at various periods, but the lists for the town are not com- plete. In 1781 Southwick had nine soldiers in the regular army under a $1,000 bounty for enlistment and twenty shillings per month pay. The support of the Revolution impoverished this town as well as others, so that Daniel Shays had some followers among the citizens.
Previous to the Revolution a number of Baptist families had set- tled in Southwick. They were sometimes called "Separates" and they naturally sought to be excused from the support of the orthodox church, but without success for a number of years. They had "sit- tings" in the meetinghouse, but attended services of their own faith in Suffield. They organized a church of their own at the house of Augustus Pease, June 28, 1806, and called Elder Niles to be their pastor, but their church at Southwick village was not built until 1822. The Baptist Church kept close oversight of its members and a large part of the records are devoted to items about reclaiming the wan- dering or getting rid of the hopelessly unworthy.
The southern boundary line of Southwick is irregular, a part of it making a jog into Connecticut. Originally this tract was larger and extended laterally the width of the town and was claimed by Con- necticut. A Mr. Moore, living on this tract, received a warning to a militia training in that State, but refused to appear and denied their jurisdiction. When the case was carried to the Connecticut Legis- lature it decided in Moore's favor. The people living on the east side of the pond chose to stay in Connecticut because of the difficulty of getting across to their business in Southwick, while those on the west side chose to remain in Massachusetts, and the land in question was so divided. Curiously, instead of the State line being established
Hampden-62
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through the middle of the long, narrow lake, it is along the east bank. A man who had never left the place of his birth was here a citizen of two states, a voter in four towns and a resident of three counties. When he was born the region was embraced by the town of Westfield, county of Hampshire and State of Massachusetts. Then the tract was thrown into the town of Simsbury, Hartford County, Connecti- cut, and the next change placed it within the lines of Granby. It finally became a part of Southwick in Hampden County and so remains.
In the Civil War the town is credited with having furnished one hundred and eight men for the Union Army and two for the navy out of a total population of 1, 155 persons. Its population is now 1,540 and forty-six men saw service during the World War.
A tavern was opened on the main highway in 1780 by Saul Fowler and in the same building he kept a small stock of goods for sale. The present hotel is maintained in the same place. Sawmills and grist- mills were early established, and one run by Raymond Fletcher, near the depot, turns out a fine quality of rye flour as well as whole wheat and bran.
The region has for many years been known for its shade-grown Havana filler tobacco. The annual visits of the buyers are an event, but the town has its dealers as well as growers. There was formerly a wagon shop and a cigarmaking industry. A century ago Amasa Holcomb had some fame as a maker of telescopes. He cast and ground his own mirrors and lenses and sold his instruments at about one-quarter of the price of imported telescopes. A powder mill was located in Southwick about 1800 and increased until 250,000 pounds, mainly for blasting purposes, was being produced annually.
John Boyle settled in Southwick in 1826 and was a contractor on the New Haven and Northampton Canal, which can be traced easily across the town. Starting at the State line the big ditch lies plainly visible just east of the railroad tracks. At Congamond Lakes the west bank was used for a tow path up to where the road crosses. North of the road the old canal is still filled with water. A floating tow path was built for about seven hundred feet across the middle lake to use in towing the canal boats over to the west bank. From there interesting traces can be followed to the north end of the lakes.
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SOUTHWICK, AND CONGAMOND LAKES
Just north of the lakes five locks were used to drop the canal to the level of the Westfield River valley. Most of the masonry is gone -probably into nearby house foundations-but the sites are easily discernible. Here the waterway route swung northeast to cross the Feeding Hills Road just west of Great Brook. A half mile north the canal crossed the brook and leaves the north boundary of the town close to the east bank of Great Brook.
Sodom Mountain, in the northwest part of Southwick, rises to a height of 1, 126 feet and Mt. Provin on the east has an elevation of six hundred and ninety-five feet. Here is located a large trap-rock quarry which operates the year around, the products being sold both in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
An Italian colony of industrious and prosperous people is located in the southeastern part of the town. Though clannish, they are eager to learn and are a credit to the community.
A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1825 and obtained the meetinghouse then standing at Gillett's Corner.
Tolland for Hunting and Fishing
CHAPTER XIX
Tolland for Hunting and Fishing
An Act of the Legislature passed June 14, 1810, reads in part as follows : "That the West Parish in Granville, in the county of Hampshire, as known by its present bounds, be and hereby is incor- porated and established as a separate town by the name of Tolland, with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the requisitions of other towns, according to the constitution and laws of this com- monwealth." This was the start of Tolland as a town, which already had about eight hundred inhabitants, but now has less than two hundred.
It is a region of hills, some of them reaching an elevation of 1,200 to 1,700 feet, and lies in the extreme southwest corner of Hampden County. When set off from Granville the new town took from the mother territory more than one-third of her lands and a like proportion of her population. It is about six miles long by four and one-half miles wide. Two stories of the origin of the name have been handed down. One tradition is that it originated across the ocean in Wales and means "hilly country." The other is that it is an Indian name meaning high hunting and fishing ground.
A group of men called the Bedford Company, who had bought the land which included Granville and Tolland from Atherton Mather, offered their holdings for sale and succeeded in interesting some set- tlers from Durham, Connecticut. A few of these men who settled the Middle Parish of Granville gradually found their way over into the hill regions of the West Parish. No reliable record is found to tell who was the pioneer, but it is known that some families made settlements about 1750. One of these was Jabez Rogers, who had ten sons and two daughters.
These married in subsequent years and were responsible for some of the increase in the town's inhabitants.
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Thomas Twining was another of the early settlers and some of his five children married and remained in Tolland. His brother Eli- jah, who came in a little later, added eight children to the population. Titus Fowler was one of the first settlers and also a leading man in the colony. James Hamilton, whose family name has been known in the town in succeeding years, had six sons, three of them full grown men when they came into the region with their father about 1750. John Manchester had four sons and Pierce Marshall five to carry down the family names.
A reminder of early days is an old stone house which tradition says was built by Deacon Rose for a fort as a protection against the Indians.
The cheapness of the lands was the principal inducement which attracted settlers to Tolland. The hills furnished an abundance of grazing, so that around 1850 large quantities of butter and cheese were sent to market. The large tracts of forest lands have not been lumbered to the extent they would have been if there were streams of sufficient size to raft logs and lumber on. Shingles were made for a time and a furniture factory was carried on by Charles Marshall in the north part of the town. A small tannery was operated on Farm- ington River by Albert Hull and that used some of the local hemlock bark. A good deal of maple sugar was produced also, but farming has been the main industry.
The Congregational Church of Tolland dates its history from 1795, when a few of the scattered inhabitants gathered together and organized a society in the west parish of Granville. In the course of a year or two the small flock courageously erected a meetinghouse and were saved the long trip up and down hills to the middle parish. Rev- erend Roger Harrison was installed as the first pastor in 1798 and remained in that position until he was dismissed in 1822. He was also postmaster and town clerk and represented the town in the Leg- islature two or three years. He continued his residence in the town until his death at the age of eighty-four years. It was in this part of Granville that Reverend Gordon Hall, the author and first American missionary to Bombay, was born and he prepared for college under Mr. Harrison's teaching. He died of cholera in India in 1826. No minister was "settled" in Tolland for some years after Mr. Harrison ended his pastorate, but the church had "supplies." Reverend Alonzo
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Sanderson, a native of Whately and a graduate of Amherst, was installed in 1852. The church was never strong in numbers and finally it was made a "yoked field" with the West Granville church. A Baptist Society was formed in the "south quarter" of the town about 1830, but it never built a church.
After Tolland was set off as a town in 1810 it established five school districts and built in each a schoolhouse.
Noyes Pond is a beautiful sheet of water which lies north of the town's center. Here is a State reservation and it also is the location of a private hunting and fishing club. About thirty cottages sur- round the pond and the club has a tennis court and golf course, as well as facilities for canoeing and bathing. Cranberry Pond is a tiny bit of water lying south of the Center. Chestnut Hill used to deserve the name, but in recent years the blight destroyed all the fine trees of that sort. Noyes Hill rises to a height of 1,700 feet near the south- ern part of Otis Pond and it is said that from its summit one can see on a clear day, with the aid of a telescope, the spires of forty churches.
Tolland Post-Office sits the highest of any post-office in Hampden county, its 1,540 feet elevation putting it ahead of Blandford Center by about forty feet. Apart from Tolland's hills its finest scenic spot is the Farmington River Gorge on its western border. The natural beauty of this ravine is delightful and the rock formations are full of interest. At certain places may be found footprints of birds and pre-historic animals, such as have attracted attention in other parts of the county.
Wales, With Its Early Varied Manufactures
CHAPTER XX
Wales, With Its Early Varied Manufactures
Few people have had a chance to live in three different towns and two counties without moving from one spot, but that was the case with the early settlers of Wales. They were in Hampshire County until Hampden County was set off in 1812, and were in Brim- field until South Brimfield was separated from the mother town. The next change came when the West Parish became Wales in 1828.
Settlement in old Brimfield is believed to have begun soon after 1700, but probably a quarter of a century passed before an adven- turous pioneer made a permanent location in the southern part of the town. Anthony Needham was evidently one of the first settlers and his wife, Molly, was sister of the four Moulton brothers, who came to the region soon after. The Needhams had eleven children, six of whom were sons. One of them, Captain Anthony Needham, gave excellent service during the Revolution and married Rebecca, sister of the four Munger brothers, also early settlers. John Bullen went south along the Brimfield Road which led into Connecticut about the same time that Anthony Needham did and the two, with their families, were probably the only ones living in what is now Wales for over a year. Bullen had Lot 28 and Needham Lot 29, both located near Wales Pond. Anthony Needham had lived some time in the older part of Brimfield before moving southward in 1726, but originally he and the Mungers and Moultons are supposed to have come from Salem.
John Shaw came from Grafton in 1752 and settled in what has since been called Shawville, at the upper end of the village. Shubael Dimmick left Connecticut about 1750 and settled east of the pond, where he set up a sawmill and gristmill on Mill Brook.
Another prominent man of the early days was Captain Asa Fisk, whose first home when he came from Connecticut was the old Wales Tavern stand, where he followed innkeeping and farming. Later he
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bought a large tract of land on high ground at the southern end of the town, which was afterward called Fisk Hill.
Humphrey Gardner and his family left Palmer because they were bothered by witches there. He traded farms with Seth Shaw, of Wales, who didn't seem to be afraid of the witches.
Whether or not the pioneers who went south from Brimfield withdrew partly because of religion we do not know, but they seem not to have been entirely in sympathy with the "standing order" as the Congregational Church was sometimes called. November 22, 1734, eleven persons signed off from the parish, saying: "We whose names are Underwritten Do own and Acknowledge Ourselves to Be of that persuasion commonly Called Anabaptists." Ebenezer Moulton was the leader in this affair and, though not then a regularly ordained minister, he officiated as a preacher. This statement freed the signers from taxation for the support of the orthodox church, provided they maintained services of their own, which they evidently did. Moulton was ordained pastor in 1741 and this was the eighth Baptist church formed in Massachusetts. It had only twenty-six members, not all definitely settled in their beliefs, so that they had many troubles. Only eighteen Baptist churches were founded before 1763. When Elder Moulton tried to preach in Sturbridge, in 1749, he was arrested by the constables and put in jail as a vagabond.
A petition from Anthony Needham and others, dated 1757, for liberty "to build a meeting-house in the highway that leads from Brimfield to Stafford in the most Convenient place, near the New Dwelling-house of Ebenezer Moulton," may mark the time of the erection, but no records can be found and it may not have been built until three years later. This Baptist church stood until 1802, when its proprietor sold it to the town. The following year the town held a vendue and the old building was sold in fourteen separate sections for the sum of $105.80.
South Brimfield voted to build a meetinghouse in 1763 and hire Ezra Reeve to preach to the settlers. This was for the use of the Standing Order, of which there were many in both the East and West parishes, and consequently many meetings were held to decide on the project and especially the location. A site about midway between the two parishes was finally chosen and the frame erected. But before it was roofed the people awoke to the fact that in trying to accom-
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WALES, WITH ITS EARLY VARIED MANUFACTURES
modate both sections they were accommodating neither and the work was abandoned.
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