USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume II > Part 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
1029
WILBRAHAM AND ITS ACADEMY
punctuated the lengthy sermon. The congregation stood again while the minister passed out, and then ate their picnic dinners in the sum- mer time on the logs and stumps nearby and in the winter visited the neighbors' houses. An afternoon service followed the nooning and then the pioneers wended their various ways home.
For sixteen years more the meetinghouse was in process of being completed and by that time the roof was leaking badly and repairs were needed. In the meantime, as soon as pews were provided, came the problem of "seating" the congregation, which took as many votes as did the location of the site for building. Persons were often dis- satisfied with the seats allotted to them, thinking that honor enough was not shown to them. One disgruntled woman carried a chair to the meetinghouse on Sabbath days and sat in the aisle near the pew where she felt she belonged. In 1760 the whole population of the precinct seems to have been under four hundred people.
The first record of a road laid out by Springfield for the precinct is in 1744. Little work was done on any road at this time except to cut away trees and bushes, make rude bridges and pick out a few stones.
Before 1754 a schoolhouse was built nearly opposite where the present Congregational Church now stands. The name of Ezra Barker, usually called Master Barker, an early teacher, has come down to us bearing a multitude of his traditions with his rod, of the pranks of the boys and the tricks of the girls. For years he was both town and church clerk and was an excellent penman.
Literary productions of this period are few, but a celebrated poem on the death of Lieutenant Mirick's only son by the bite of a rattle- snake, he being twenty-two years of age and "very nigh marridge," has come down to us. This elegy of "Springfield Mountain" was writ- ten by Nathan Torrey, of Springfield, about 1761, in commemoration of that tragic occurrence which caused a great local sensation at the time. It was sung to the tune of "Old Hundred" at the centennial celebration in Wilbraham, being "lined out" by Judge Henry Morris :
"BALLAD OF SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN
"On Springfield Mountains there did dwell A likely youth who was knowne full well Lieutenant Mirick's onley sone
A likely youth nigh twenty one.
.
1030
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
"One Friday morning he did go into the medow and did moe A round or two then he did feal A pisin sarpent at his heal.
"When he received his dedly wond he dropt his sithe a pon the ground And strate for home was his intent Caling aloude stil as he went.
"tho all around his voys wase hered but none of his friends to him apiere they thot it wase some workmen calld and there poor Timothy alone must fall.
"So soon his Carful father went to seak his son with discontent and there his fond onley son he found ded as a stone a pon the ground
"And there he lay down sopose to rest with both his hands Acrost his brest his mouth and eyes Closed fast And there poor man he slept his last.
"his father vieude his track with great consarn Where he had ran across the corn uneven tracks where he did go did apear to stagger to and frow.
"The seventh of August sixty one this fatal axsident was done Let this a warning be to all to be Prepared when God does call."
A more metrical version of the story, apparently put out some- what later, was often sung. The ten verses are as follows and were divided by a chorus of "Turiluri-turilay, sing turiluri-turilay-i a":
"On Springfield Mountain there did dwell A nice young man, I knew him well. "On Monday morning he did go Down to the meadow for to mow.
"He scarce had mowed half round the field, When a pesky sarpent bit his heel.
1031
WILBRAHAM AND ITS ACADEMY
"He raised his scythe and struck a blow, Which laid the pesky sarpent low.
"He took the sarpent in his hand, And posted off to Molly Bland.
"'Oh, Johnny dear, why did you go Down to the meadow for to mow?'
"'Oh, Molly dear, I thought you knowed 'Twas father's field and must be mowed.'
"Now this young man gave up the ghost And did to Abraham's bosom post.
"And thus he cried as up he went,
ยท 'Oh, pesky, cruel, sar-pi-ent.'
"Now all young men, a warning take, Beware of the bite of a great big snake."
The agricultural products of the town were becoming more varied and abundant by this time, and the houses were more convenient and more comfortable in the winter season. Still there were bare floors, bare walls, scant furniture and the oaken table and chest and pine settle were the chief adornings of the frugal homes. There was one marked exception, however. Ensign Abel Bliss is said to have gath- ered in the south part of Ludlow and Belchertown pine knots and hearts, called candle wood by our forebears, and used to illuminate their houses. These he burned in a tar kiln and realized a thousand dollars from his two hundred barrels of tar. With this money he built a house which was the admiration of all the people. The plan was so pretentious that the pastor preached a sermon on the text "Build not your house too high," and the rebuked Abel went home and cut off the upright posts of his house seven inches.
As early as January, 1749, because of the distance from Spring- field, the citizens in this precinct began petitioning to be set off as a separate township, but it was fourteen years before the fourth parish of Springfield was made into a separate town and took the name of Wilbraham. The Indian name of the region was "Minnechaug," which means "Berry Land," and correctly describes much of the land which had suffered from fires. The name of Wilbraham came either from an English baronet of that name or from the parish of Wilbra-
1032
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
ham, situated near Cambridge in England. The first town meeting was held August 25, 1763, and the only business transacted was to choose a moderator and a clerk, for the clerk had to go to Springfield the next morning to be sworn. Then the town meeting continued in the afternoon and the usual officers were elected. The "Dear Reaves" were to see that deer were not hunted at unsuitable seasons of the year, and tithing men were chosen to see that the Sunday laws were obeyed, and especially that frisky boys and girls in the galleries were restrained. The latter was a task requiring ceaseless vigilance.
Schools were early an important topic in the town meetings and in 1775 the old school districts were re-arranged and ten in all were formed. One hundred and twenty-six dollars was apportioned for the maintenance, which meant only twelve dollars and sixty cents for each school. At this time there were only two schoolhouses in the town. The sessions in the other districts were held at some farm- house and perhaps taught by the farmer. Some of the "school lots" which were assigned for the support of schools in an early allotment of land were sold and that money added to what the town voted. No slates were used here until after this period, but ink and paper, coal and board, nail and birch bark, and sometimes the earth or ashes were the medium for figuring.
Roads, too, began to receive more attention, but the towns did not hold themselves liable for accidents on account of defective highways until after the Revolution. The first road "Established" was from "Third Brook so called" through the southeast part of the town to Wales. The roads varied from one to three rods in width and care was taken to have them run on dividing lines or cross a lot at right angles. From the Bay Road on the north end of the town, crossing from east to west, ran four paths, more or less used for foot travelers, bridle paths, or for wheels; the West Road, Middle or Ridge Road, the East Road, and another on the west side of the "outward com- mons." Five trails crossed these, rather regularly spaced, running east and west. Less than $85 a year was raised for roads in the first ten years, a sum which would hardly clear the paths of big stones and cut away the bushes. However, this was fairly adequate, for up to 1782 there were but two two-horse wagons and five two-horse sleighs in the north part of the town.
1033
WILBRAHAM AND ITS ACADEMY
In the church, affairs did not always go smoothly. The south part of the town was growing and did not care much about repairing the meetinghouse or building new pews, though a few persons built pews for themselves. The singers in the church were weary of Deacon Warriner, who had "lined out" the hymns for over twenty years. Singingmasters had made their way into town, bringing new tunes with them, and "Old Hundred" seemed likely to be replaced by more modern music. The final result of town meetings and many votes was the report of a committee of ten men giving the names of twenty- three tunes which were to be sung, and no others without "consent." The honors of leading were divided and the deacon could lead in the forenoon and one of the young men in the afternoon. Singers were to be allowed to stand or sit as they chose, and a leader had "liberty to use the motion of his hand while singing." These regulations were to be tried out for three months and the recommendation was made that "beating with hand" be left to the schools. Finally, this solid com- mittee states "we cannot but recommend to ourselves and others to studdy the Things which make for peace, and the things whereby we may Edify one another"; and harmony between the old "liners" on the floor and the young singing school pupils in the gallery seems at hand. It was not of long duration, however, for the deacons soon had an article in the town warrant "to make Inquiry into the conduct of those who called themselves the singers in this town." How the matter was finally settled the records do not show, but on the last vote recorded the gallery seemed ahead of the deacons.
Mr. Mirick's health failed in 1772 and difficulties arose over sup- plying the pulpit and paying his salary. He had thriftily run his farm during his pastorate and at one time had two negroes for work in the fields and one in the house. He offered to relinquish a portion of his salary to pay for preaching services, but a part of the parish wished to dismiss him entirely. He was given a good chance to resign, but he did not choose to do so, and when visited by a committee of five sent by the town to see what his demands were on them, he replied : "What the town owes me." He died December 22, 1776, after a ministry of thirty-five years and six months.
From the death of Mr. Mirick there was no settled minister in the north part of the town for eleven years. In the meantime a Baptist group had organized and the southern part of the town had so grown
1034
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
that it was made a separate parish in 1782. A committee from out of town chosen to consider this matter stated they considered it "a great unhappiness that a town so Respectable as the Town of Wil- braham is, Should in the management of their Publick affairs, suffer such animosities to arise among them."
Near the close of this period Deacon Warriner died, and as he had no children, left his "Lawful money" to the town, one-half for the support of the gospel and the other half to the school, pro- vided those "of a Different Constitution from the Standing order of Churches in this land shall forever be excluded from receiving any Benefit from the same."
The Revolutionary War period brought to Wilbraham the same hardships that it brought to other towns in the county. Large boun- ties had to be raised to send men into the field, clothing and food had to be furnished the soldiers, crops were harvested by women and chil- dren, and a depreciated currency struggled with. "Very full" town meetings were held and patriotism ran high. When word came by rider from Boston of the battle of Lexington, thirty-four men responded to the call with such speed that they were on the great Bay Road, hastening east, before nightfall. By the time the war ended about three hundred Wilbraham men had served their time and twenty had given their lives for the cause, four of whom were killed in battle and sixteen died from disease. The rest came back to neglected farms and financial troubles, and the courts were full of property suits. There was no peace, though peace had been pro- claimed. The blessings of liberty and prosperity were still beyond reach, and various leaders broke forth with remedies. Among these was Daniel Shays, of Pelham, who with Luke Day, of West Spring- field, planned to capture the Springfield Arsenal. Shays reached Wil- braham with his ragged force of armed farmers on the twenty-fourth of January, 1787, and spent the night there, with his soldiers quar- tered on the inhabitants. The next morning he marched on to the arsenal, but Asaph King mounted his young saddle horse and started across the fields to warn General Shepard. The snow was knee deep and covered with a sharp crust which would not bear the horse, so that when King at last came out on the road far in advance of Shays, his horse's legs were cut and bleeding. Nevertheless, he reached the arsenal in forty-five minutes from the time he left Wilbraham and
1035
WILBRAHAM AND ITS ACADEMY
General Shepard was ready for the insurgents when they arrived. Apparently no Wilbraham men joined Shays' army, but John Lang- don, the hero of two wars and then over sixty years of age, who was in Shepard's army, used to take keen delight in telling how he with his old "Queen's Arm" at his eye, frightened a whole squad of Shays' men.
Methodist preachers began their work in the town in 1791 and two years later raised and covered their first meetinghouse, though it was not finished until many years later. Camp meetings, which began in 1814, were a great stimulus to the sect in the summer time, and a stove warmed both bodies and hearts in the winter. This was a great innovation for the times and not for a number of years after- ward did any other church in the town follow this example. Camp meetings were held in the place by several societies on different weeks for many years. The Adventists were there for a time and also a negro society. Later the present camp meeting site at Laurel Park, above Northampton, was bought for the Springfield District of the Methodist Conference. The Universalists came into the South Parish in 1826, but never built a church, instead using the different schoolhouses for their services during the few years they were in existence. Then came the "Millerites," who awakened great interest and not a little terror by their prophecy that the world would be burned up in April, 1843. Fortunately, the consuming fire did not descend, nor the watching saints ascend, and interest faded. Dr. Abial Bottom told of an experi- ence of his about this time. As he was driving along early one evening, his horse was frightened at something up in a tree close at hand. The doctor saw a shape resembling a human figure among the branches and asked: "What are you doing up there at this time of night?" A woman's voice answered : "I have on my ascension robe and am wait- ing to be wafted to the realms of light beyond the skies."
Much trouble was experienced in the orthodox society over the payment of church taxes. Sometimes the Methodists and Baptists were exempt, but when they were not, they might rebel at "Taxation without representation" and obstinately insist on voting in the parish meeting, sometimes outvoting the orthodox members.
Eleven years passed in the North Parish between the death of the Reverend Noah Mirick and the next settled minister. In the meantime the struggle began to have the meetinghouse located in a
1036
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
more central and easily accessible spot and vote after vote was taken for some years on the subject, until finally the "tabernacle of the Lord" was moved down from Wigwam Hill onto the street. At one time when Mr. Calvin Colton was desired as a preacher, the church drew up a paper to present to him, expressing their desire that their pastor should confine his teaching on controversial points to the language of inspiration, or not speak on them at all. Whether the graces expected of Mr. Colton were not attractive to him, or their acquisition impossible, does not appear, but Mr. Colton declined and Ebenezer Brown was called. The Methodists and Baptists now had a rest for a time, for inward struggles rent the parish and members left, not to return until Mr. Brown was dismissed and peace again vis- ited Zion. The old meetinghouse and parsonage were superseded by new structures and were used as barns. The new church served for only twenty years before it was destroyed by fire on the afternoon of Sunday, June 24, 1877. A small boy wandered into the building, filled the stove full of papers and lighted them. The stovepipe had been disconnected from the chimney and soon the building was ablaze. Four dwelling houses were burned at the same time.
The South Parish built their church in 1783, after holding meet- ings under the oak trees in summer and in the houses in winter. The building was placed in the street at first, much to the detriment of appearances, but it was finally moved and remodeled on a suitable site. The minister was to have twenty-four cords of wood yearly and the job was struck off to the lowest bidders in lots of from four to six cords. Possibly the bidders never brought their poorest wood or crookedest sticks to the minister, but in 1816 he was no doubt relieved to be paid in cash instead. In the summer of 1822 a famous revival- ist provided a great awakening in the town and ninety-three were added to the church. Mr. Warren was minister at this time and dur- ing the forty-one years of his ministry he baptized four hundred and seventy people.
Sunday schools were opened in the town about. 1824. The pupils mostly committed verses and hymns to memory and very little instruc- tion was given. At a later period question books were introduced. The Sunday school was preceded by a period when the "Assembly's Catechism" was learned in the public schools and the minister would go once a month, on Saturdays, to hear the children recite it. Some-
1037
WILBRAHAM AND ITS ACADEMY
times the children went to the minister's house and recited to him there, and these were great occasions to the little folks. It is not to be supposed that they understood the awful mysteries unfolded in the words which they repeated. They did understand, however, that they were reciting what was sacred, and reverent feelings arose under the influence of unmeaning sounds.
The practice of "keeping" Saturday evenings was followed in many families. If traps or snares had been set in the woods, they must all be sprung before the sun went down on Saturday and not reset until after sun down on Sunday. The small children sometimes stood at the west windows in the latter part of the Sabbath Day, watching, wishing and waiting for the moment when they could run and play.
The public schools were not forgotten. Though the people were embarrassed with debt and burdened with taxes, they realized that knowledge was a corner stone of the Republic. A grammar school was voted twelve pounds in 1792, provided that any pupils in the town could attend, but the scholars of parents who did not furnish one quarter of a cord of wood cut fit for fire by the first of January could not be taught. Some days the wood was scarce and at other times it would defy the power of fire. Green pine did not make good kindling ; white birch did, but went out when least expected. The teachers "boarded round," remaining at each house where there were scholars from three to twelve days. It was a great occasion, for the children especially, to have the schoolmaster come to their house to board. If not the fatted calf, the fatted pig was killed, and the last trembling chicken was sacrificed to honor the guest. With what mingled fear and delight would the little girl invite the teacher to come and how delightedly she announced his acceptance to her envious companions. Then the candlesticks and andirons were polished, the best bed put in order, the knives well scoured and the whole premises brushed up. There was rye and Indian bread, luscious spare ribs, cider apple sauce and homemade cheese; the best the home could provide.
The amount of money appropriated for school use often seems very meager, but it would compare well with what is given today. Money was hard to get. Labor the farmer could furnish and he could work on the roads, but not in the school room. A geography with an atlas was introduced as early as 1820, but it was later than that
1038
HAMPDEN COUNTY-1636-1936
before boys were bold enough to study it, or girls courageous enough to study arithmetic.
Nine Mile Pond was the scene of a tragedy in April, 1799, when five of the young people of Wilbraham and a young man from Con- necticut were drowned there by the overturning of a boat in which they were sailing. The story was published in Springfield the same year in a small volume with the funeral sermons. The young people were part of a group of "merry-makers" gathered in the Bliss home. Those who reached the pond first started out in a small sailboat and the others were witnesses of the disaster. The wind was high and flawy and as the boat was rounding a point it caught the gale and sank. There was no other boat near and no help at hand. Three of the bodies were taken from the water about two hours later and two were found the next morning, but the sixth could not be located. Sur- rounding towns sent help to assist in the search and a heavy cannon was drawn from Springfield with the hope that the concussion caused by firing it might bring the body to the surface. A ditch was cut through the open fields to drain off the water and the pond was consid- erably lowered, but to no avail. On the morning of the sixteenth day after the drowning two travelers passing by saw the body floating in the center of the pond and the long search was ended.
For some years after the settlement of the town it was necessary to draw all lumber from the sawmill at Sixteen Acres, but Lewis Lang- don erected one on the Scantic in 1750 and from then on there has been a constant succession of mills of one sort or another so that finally there were seven sawmills, five gristmills and one shingle-mill. The first carding machine was placed in a building on Twelve Mile Brook in 1803 and fulling mills soon followed, as well as a plant for dyeing and dressing cloth. Walter Burt invented a pair of shears for cut- ting the nap of cloth, but they worked imperfectly and were super- seded by others. Roper had a clover mill for cleansing clover seed, which was famous in its day, and he also manufactured chairs. The amount of wood consumed by the early inhabitants produced a surplus of ashes and two men started the manufacture of potash. Four tanneries in different sections of the town took care of the hides and turned them into leather. Orchards were numerous on the hills and so were cider mills and distilleries. A farmer often made three hundred barrels of cider in a season and sometimes drank thirty and
1039
WILBRAHAM AND ITS ACADEMY
a barrel of brandy to give it tone. Deacon Sumner Sessions erected the first woolen mill in Wilbraham, which in 1863 was turning out every day one thousand yards of three-fourth satinet. Three other mills in similar operation at that time turned out all together 600,000 yards a year.
There was no post-office until 1821 and Mathew Gardner brought the first mail to the town in a one-horse wagon; and another man with the papers went riding through the streets once a week blowing his horn.
The tailoring was done at home by women who went from house to house, fitting garments. The old horse was roused at an unaccus- tomed hour on a cold morning, and while the stars were yet bright was started off after the "tailors," who were in turn hurried back that they might do a good day's work and earn their money. The children got out the button-box, selected the buttons and then made the dull metal glow and sparkle by a vigorous application to the soles of their shoes.
Flax was raised, broken and swingled by the men, and all through the winter day and long winter evenings the whole house was made musical by the hum of the wheels as the mothers spun the flax and the girls the tow. When spring came and the sounding loom and fly- ing shuttle had done their work, there might be seen on the clean grass long pieces of cloth bleaching to a snowy whiteness.
The braiding of straw and palm-leaf succeeded spinning and weav- ing and sometimes the whole family, boys as well as girls, spent the evenings making straw hats and bonnets and palm-leaf hats.
Thousands of yards of straw braid were sold from the town. The nicely sanded floor gave way to carpets early in 1800. Crockery was rare at first and wood and pewter were used. Few wore shoes in summer and a pair of boots was a wonder.
Wilbraham before the Revolution had nearly as many inhabitants as Springfield and its fertile lands produced more heavily the rye and corn which brought good money at the distilleries there until the temperance reform swept the country. That market was then closed, but the railroad soon stimulated manufacture and Wilbraham's products found sale among the mother city's increased population. Through all its history the town has had few rich men and few poor. It has produced no one great man, but many fine citizens.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.