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The following singular occurrences are said to have taken place near the boundary line between Massachusetts and Connecticut. Part of these occurrences took place in this town, and part in the adjoining town of Salisbury, in Connecticut. The relation of these circumstances was obtained from Mr. S. Sage and his family, who are still living on the spot, (June, 1836,) and could be corro- borated by great numbers of people now living :-
" These occurrences commenced Nov. Sth, 1802, at a clothier's shop. A man and two boys were in the shop; the boys had retired to rest, it being between 10 and 11 o'clock at night. A block of wood was thrown through the window ; after that, pieces of hard mortar, till the man and boys became alarmed, and went to the house to call Mr. Sage, who arose from bed and went to the shop, and could hear the glass break often, but could not discover from whence it came, notwithstanding the night was very light. He exerted himself to discover the cause without success. It con- tinued constantly till day-light, and then ceased till the next evening at 8 o'clock, when it commenced again, and continued till midnight; then ceased till the next evening at dusk, and continued till some time in the evening, and then ceased. The next day it commenced about an hour before sun-down, and continued about an hour, and then it left the shop and began at the dwelling-house of Mr. Ezekiel Landon, 100 rods north, in the town of Sheffield. It continued several hours, and ceased till the next morning : when the family were at breakfast it began again, and continued two or three hours, and ceased till evening, when it began again and continued several hours, and ceased till the next morning, when it began again and con- tinued all the forenoon, and then ceased altogether .. The articles thrown into the shop were pieces of wood, charcoal, stone. but principally pieces of hard mortar, such as could not be found in the neighborhood. Nothing but stones were thrown into the house of Mr. Landon, the first of which were thrown into the door. There were 38 panes of glass broke out of the shop, and 18 out of the dwelling houses : in two or three instances persons were hit by the things that were thrown. What was remarkable, nothing could be seen coming till the glass broke, and whatever passed through, fell directly down on the window-sill, as if it had been put through with a person's fingers, and many pieces of mortar and coal were thrown through the same hole in the glass in succession. Many hundreds of people assembled to witness the scene, among whom were clergymen and other gentlemen, but none were able to detect the source of the mischief. The more credulous readily believed it to be witchcraft, but it was generally thought to be some slight of hand, effected by a combination of individuals, as the windows were broken on different sides of the buildings nearly at the same time."
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The following inscriptions are taken from monuments in the grave-yards in this place.
Sacred to the memory of Jonathan Hubbard, and Mrs. Rachel Hubbard his consort, this monument is erected. The Rev. J. Hubbard was the first pastor of the church in Sheffield. He was blessed with a lively genius and solid judgment. His public dis- cources were judicious, and his conversation instructive. He departed this life July 6th, 1765, in the 62d year of his age .- Our Fathers where are they ? and do the Pro- phets live forever ?
Beneath this stone lies the body of the Rev. John Keep, A. M., pastor of the church in Sheffield, who died Sept. 3d, A. D. 1784, Ætat. 36, et ministerii 13, calmly resign- ing his mortal life in hope of a blessed immortality thro' the atonement of Jesus Christ. He was blessed with natural genius improved by education, and a benevolent heart, and was illustrious as a Divine, a Preacher, a Friend and a Christian.
When Suns and Planets from their orbs be hurl'd And livid flames involve this smoking world ; The Trump of God announce the Savior nigh And shining hosts of angels crowd the sky Then from this tomb thy dust shall they convey To happier regions of eternal day.
Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Ephraim Judson, Pastor of the church in Sheffield. He died on the 23d of February, A. D. 1813, in the 76th year of his age, and 23d of his ministry in Sheffield, having been previously the pastor of the church in Norwich, and also in Taunton. Mr. Judson was esteemed as a learned divine, an acute Jogician, and an evangelical preacher. He was mild, courteous, and hospitable. By his numerous friends he was deemed a wise counsellor, an active peace-maker, & a sincere christian. What he was in Truth, the Great Day will disclose.
Here lies deposited the body of Major General John Ashley, who died Nov. 5, 1799, in the 64th year of his age.
Make the extended skies your tomb, Let stars record your worth ; Yet know vain mortals all must die, As natures sickliest birth ..
This monument is erected to perpetuate the memory of Col. John Ashley, who departed this life Sept. 1st, 1802, in the 93d year of his age.
Virtue alone has majesty in death, And triumphs most when most the tyrant frowns ; Earth highest station ends in Here he lies And dust to dust concludes her noblest song.
STOCKBRIDGE.
THIS town was originally laid out by the general government of the state in 1735, for the accommodation of the Indians. In the year previous a mission was commenced among the Housa- tonic Indians by Mr. John Sergeant, then a candidate for the ministry, assisted by Mr. Timothy Woodbridge as schoolmaster, under the patronage of the board of commissioners for Indian affairs in Boston, of which his excellency Jonathan Belcher, then British governor of Massachusetts, was an active and influential member. At that time about half of these Indians lived in the
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great meadow on the Housatonic in this town, called by them Wnahktukook. Here Konkapot the chieftain resided, who had just before been honored by Gov. Belcher with a captain's com- mission. His cabin stood on a knoll a few rods north of the Konkapot brook, on the east side of the county road. The other Indians lived on their reservation in Sheffield, called by them Skatehook. For the better improvement of their moral condition it was soon found desirable to have these united and settled in one place, with such other Indians in the vicinity as might be disposed to join with them. Being made acquainted with their situation, the legislature, on the 17th of March, 1735, granted them a town- ship 6 miles square, to be laid out on the Housatonic river, immediately north of Monument mountain, provided the proprie- tors and settlers of the Upper Housatonic could be induced to give up their right to that portion of their lands on which the new township would partly fall. It was wished to include the fine alluvial ground at Wnahktukook, where the chieftain resided, and, which, to some extent, was under cultivation. The committee met with but little difficulty in performing the duties assigned them, and in April, 1736, they laid out the town in a square, which inclu- ded the present townships of Stockbridge and West-Stockbridge.
Early in May of that year the Indians began to move into their plantation, and by the last of June there were more than 90 persons in the settlement. In Jan., 1737, the subject being laid before the legislature by the governor, they ordered that a meeting-house 40 feet by 30, together with a school-house, should be built for the Indians at the charge of the province. On the 7th of May in this year, the grant of the town was confirmed to the Indians, their heirs and assigns ; and in 1739, the town was incorporated by the name of Stockbridge, after the town of that name in Eng- land. Their meeting-house was first opened for public worship on the 29th of Nov .. 1739, the day of thanksgiving in the commonwealth. It stood a few rods north-east of the site of the present south meeting-house. The settlement gradually increased for many years, until they numbered, at one time, nearly 500, though it is probable that their average number, while they remained in the town, was about 400. A short time before the revolutionary war, a township, 6 miles square, was given them by the Oneidas, in the state of New York. After the close of the war, in 1783, some of them removed, a large proportion of them in 1785, and the residue in 1788. In 1810, they are represented to have numbered more than 600. In 1822 these Indians began to move to Green Bay, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, on to a tract of 5,000,000 acres, purchased for them and other Indians in the state of New York, for $500, of the Menominie and Winnebago tribes. The head of Green Bay is near the center of their purchase. The residence of Capt. Konkapot has been mentioned ; that of King Ben [Benjamin Kokkewenaunaut] was on the elevated ground back of the Housatonic, half a mile west of the plain. In 1771, being then 94 years old, this chieftain told his people that they must appoint another king, and king Solomon [Solomon Unhaunnauwaunnutt] was chosen his successor. His house was on the south bank of the Housatonic, opposite Little Hill. He died in Feb., 1777, aged 50. King Ben lived till April 1781, being 104 years old. Some of the Indians' houses were on the plain, some on the meadows near the river, and a few about Barnum's brook. These Indians at first were called by the English River Indians, afterwards more generally Housatonic Indians, until the incorporation of this town ; since which they have more generally been called Stockbridge Indians. They have also some- times, as well as the tribe at Norwich, Conn., been called Mohegans, which is a cor- ruption of their proper name Mahhekaneew or Muhhekaneok, signifying " the people of the great waters, continually in motion."
One very important effect which this mission produced was, that the friendship of these Indians was effectually secured to the English. They performed numerous kind offices for the early settlers of the county ; in time of war they were spies for the English, and often fought and sometimes shed their blood for them in the army.
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Though Fort Massachusetts was repeatedly attacked in the time of the first French war, and terror was spread through all this region, yet, in consequence of the well-known friendship of the Muhhekaneews, no hostile Indians ventured down into the vicinity of this place, and the southern section of the county was saved from such calamities as befel some of the settlements on Connecticut river, and others to the west, in the state of New York. Though, in the second French war a few families in different parts of the county were disturbed, yet the mischief was small compared with what probably would have been done, had it not been for the friendship of the Stockbridge tribe. In this war many of the Indians were received as soldiers in the service of Massachusetts, and showed their fidelity by fighting for the whites. In the revolu- tionary war a part of the company of minute men under the command of Captain Goodrich, of this town, was composed of these Indians. A company went to White Plains under Capt. Daniel Nimham, where some were slain, and others died with sickness. Numbers served at other places. At the close of the war General Washington directed the contractors for supplying a division of the army at West Point with provisions, to give the Indians a feast, in consideration of their good conduct in the service. An ox weighing 1,100 lbs. was roasted whole; the whole tribe partook of it; the men first, and then the women, according to custom. The Rev. John Sergeant (the younger) and a Mr. Deane presided at the table, and the principal men of the place attended. The feast was kept near the residence of King Solomon, and after this was over the Indians buried the hatchet in token that the war was past, and performed some other ceremonies in their own style for the gratification of the com- pany. The school commenced among these Indians by Mr. Woodbridge, in the autumn of 1734, was kept by him many years, and was regularly kept afterwards (for some time by Mr. John Sergeant, Jun.) until the Indians emigrated to the region of the Oneidas.
The following account of Mr. Sergeant's labors is taken from the History of Stockbridge, by the Rev. David D. Field.
In 1741, Mr. Sergeant projected the plan of a boarding-school, which wa's summa- rily this : That a tract of land of about 200 acres should be set aside for the use of the school, and a house erected upon it ; that a number of children and youth, be- tween the ages of 10 and 20, should be received, and placed under the care of two masters, one of whom should take the oversight of them in their hours of labor, and the other in their hours of study, and that their time should be so divided between the hours of labor and study, as to make one the diversion of the other; that the fruit of their labors should go towards their maintenance, and to carry on the general design ; and that a stock of cattle should be maintained on the place for the same purpose. It was also proposed to take into the number, on certain conditions, children from any of the Indian tribes around, that by their means the principles of virtue and Christian knowledge might be spread as far as possible.
This project was very popular among the Indian and English inhabitants of this place, and much was eventually done by them, considering their circumstances, for promoting it. It was also popular with the commissioners and their friends in Boston. But before much was done, the first French war commenced, which rendered it neces- sary that the actual establishment of the school should be postponed for a season. In the mean while, as the Corporation for Indian Affairs, under which the commissioners acted, existed in London, the project attracted the favorable notice of such blessed men there as Dr. Isaac Watts and Capt. Thomas Coram, who exerted themselves to raise funds for the support of the school. The Prince of Wales headed a subscription with 20 guineas, and a few others high in rank and office subscribed for it. Mr. Isaac Hollis made provision at first for supporting 12 boys, and afterwards for supporting 24, and was so anxious that the children should be instructed immediately, that Mr. Sergeant took 12 under his care in the beginning of 1748. But as it was not alto- gether safe for them to remain here during the war, he procured Capt. Martin Kel- logg, of Newington, in Wethersfield, Conn., to take them in May, and instruct them for a year. In 1749, the war being closed, a house for the boarding-school was erected, which stood on the southern end of the garden belonging to Mr. Benoni C. Wells.
The heart of Mr. Sergeant was drawn exceedingly towards this school. His suc- cessor, President Edwards, thought much of it, and, directly after his settlement in this place, a large council from the Six Nations sat here to consider the subject of sending their children to the school. After it was opened, the Rev. Gideon Hawley, afterwards missionary at Marshpee, it is understood, instructed it for a time. "He taught a few families of Mohawks, Oneidas and Tuskaroras." The Rev. Cotton
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Mather Smith, who afterwards settled in Sharon, Conn., also instructed it for a season. But arrangements for managing the school were never very thoroughly made ; and admirable as was the plan, and as much as it promised, the occurrence of the second French war nearly destroyed it.
Notwithstanding this unhappy issue, however, in this school, in connection with the common school, a considerable number of Indians received a good education. A few also were instructed at the Indian charity school at Hanover, N. H., and Peter Poli- quonnoppeet was graduated at the college in that town in 1780. This Sir Peter, as he was commonly called, was a man of good talents and character, and connected with Joseph Quanaukaunt, Capt. Hendrick Aupaumut, and Capt. John Konkapot, in a council, which, after the decease of King Solomon, regulated the affairs of the tribe. The regal power, it is said, belonged to Joseph Quanaukaunt ; but being a very modest and unassuming, as well as sensible man, he chose not to be king, but wished the tribe to be governed by a council.
Many of the Indians were fitted for the transaction of all ordinary business. A part of the town offices were uniformly sustained by them while they remained in this place. The speech of one of the chiefs to the Massachusetts congress in 1775, in Bingham's Columbian Orator, tendering his services in the revolutionary war, may be taken as a specimen of the talent at oratory which some of them possessed.
As to religion, it is evident that the Spirit of God was poured forth under the minis- try of Mr. Sergeant, and that his labors were blessed to the conversion of many souls. The Lord's supper was first administered here on the 4th of June, 1738; but as a number had made a profession years before, the church must be considered as pre- viously existing, although we have no express account of the time and manner of its organization. About 100, from first to last, made a profession of Christianity ; and though it is not certain all these were genuine converts, yet we have no authority for restricting the operations of grace entirely to those who became professors, nor indeed to the members of this tribe ; for considerable numbers from other tribes occasionally listened here to the instructions of the gospel.
But the extent to which they were civilized and christianized, will be more fully un- derstood by attending to the labors of the successive missionaries.
At the time Mr. Sergeant received his appointment, he was a tutor in Yale College. He visited the Indians in the autumn of 1734, and again in the spring of 1735, and in July in the latter year, having relinquished the duties of the tutorship, he took up his residence with the Indians for life. On the 31st of August following he was or- dained at Deerfield, where Gov. Belcher had made an appointment to meet some In- dian tribes about that time, for the purpose of making a treaty with them. The or- dination took place on the Sabbath, in the presence of the congregation usually wor- shipping there, of the governor and a large committee of both houses of the legisla- ture, of the Indians collected from several tribes, and of some of the Housatonic Indians, who sat by themselves, and formally received Mr. Sergeant as their mis- sionary.
In the winters of 1734 and 5, and of 1735 and 6, the Indians were instructed in Great Barrington, and in the intermediate summer in Sheffield and Stockbridge. Upon their removal to this town in May in the year last mentioned, Mr. Woodbridge removed here and boarded with Capt. Konkapot. Mr. Sergeant boarded with a fami- ly in Great Barrington until January, 1737, when he moved into town, and boarded with Mr. Woodbridge, who had settled in a family state. The first residence of Mr. Woodbridge was on the " Hill," eastward from the house of Dea. Josiah Jones. He afterwards built a house on the farm now owned by Mr. Samuel Goodrich. In the course of 1737, Mr. Sergeant built the house on the "Plain," occupied at the present time by the widow of Gen. Silas Pepoon, and which is now the oldest house in town. He afterwards built the house on the Hill, now occupied by his grandson, Maj. Sewall Sergeant. In this he died.
Ignorant of their language, Mr. Sergeant at first instructed the Indians, of neces- sity, by the aid of an interpreter. In this way he translated into their language some prayers for their daily use, and Watts's first catechism for the benefit of children. But as the disadvantages of this mode were many, he applied himself diligently to the study of the language, and in August, 1737, began to declare unto them in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. Afterwards he made such proficiency in it, that the Indians, were accustomed to say he spoke their language better than they did.
The effect of his labors upon the Indians was very happy. From 8 or 10 families they had increased to more than 50, during his ministry, had been reclaimed from many errors and vices, had assumed a stable character as a society, regularly attended public worship, had 20 houses built after the English manner, and paid considerable
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attention to the cultivation of the earth. In singing they were great proficients. Fifty or sixty who had become hopeful converts were admitted to full communion by him ; some of whom died in the faith before him: 42 survived him. He baptized 182 na- tives, adults and infants. His services were also greatly useful to the English who settled here.
Ancient House in Stockbridge.
The above is a south-eastern view of the house of Mr. Daniel B. Fenn, in the central part of Stockbridge village. It was built by Mr. Sergeant in 1737, and is the oldest house in the town. This house was occupied by the Rev. Jonathan Edwards while he resided in this town, and within its walls he completed his cele- brated production, "The Freedom of the Will," which is thought by many to be the greatest production of the human mind. His study was on the lower floor in the south-west corner of the build- ing, and was quite contracted in its limits, being but about five feet by four, as it appears by the marks of the partition still remain- ing. The walls of the house are lined with brick. After Presi- dent Edwards left it was occupied by Jehiel Woodbridge, Esq., then by Judge Sedgwick, then Gen. Silas Pepoon, and now by Mr. Fenn.
Mr. Sergeant was a native of Newark, N. J., and graduate of Yale College 1729. In stature he was rather small, but possessed a very intelligent, expressive countenance. He died on the 27th of July, 1749, and was succeeded in the labors of the mission by the Rev. Jonathan Edwards. He entered upon the same general course of instruction which his predecessor had pursued, and dis- charged his duties with his wonted faithfulness, and to the good acceptance of both the people and commissioners. Besides per- forming his ministerial duties, he here wrote some of his greatest works. Mr. Edwards continued here till Jan., 1758, when he was dismissed, to take the presidency of Princeton College. At the time of his dismission, the number of Indian families were reduced to 42. Rev. Stephen West, of Tolland, Conn., and a graduate of Yale College, was ordained the next pastor of this church, June 13th, 1759, and continued over them until the removal of the Indians to the state of New York.
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This town was gradually settled by the English, who bought :
out the Indian rights one after another before their emigration. Some of the earliest white settlers, next to Mr. Sergeant and Mr. Woodbridge, were Col. Williams, Josiah Jones, Joseph Wood- bridge, Samuel Brown, Samuel Brown Jr., Joshua Chamberlain, David Pixley, John Willard, John Taylor, Jacob Cooper, Elisha Parsons, Stephen Nash, James Wilson, Josiah Jones Jun., Thomas Sherman, and Solomon Glezen. Families by the name of Ball, Hamilton, Cadwell, and Lynch were in the west part of the town, of Curtis and Churchill in the north, and of Bradley and Williams in the east, at an early period.
The great body of the people in this town have ever been Con- gregationalists; though there are some Episcopalians, a few Bap- tists and Methodists. The principal village, about half a mile in extent, is beautifully situated on the Plain, a tract of level land between " the Hill" and the Housatonic, moderately elevated above the river. It consists of about 40 dwelling-houses, a Congrega- tional church, a bank, and academy. The scenery of the town has been much admired by strangers. It is situated 6 miles S. of Lenox, 44 from Springfield, 59 from Hartford, 32 from Hudson, 34 from Albany, and 130 W. of Boston. Population, 2,036. There are in the town a cotton mill with 3,780 spindles, 2 woollen mills with 8 sets of machinery, and 2 furnaces, one of which is for the manufacture of pig iron, of which in 1837 thirteen hundred and thirty-seven tons were made, valued at $53,480.
[From the Boston Post Boy, Sept. 3, 1739.]
" In a letter from a friend in the country, dated Aug. 21, 1739, we have the follow- ing passages. I have lately been to see my friends at Housatonnoc, (now called Stock- bridge,) and was well pleased to find the Indians so well improv'd, particularly in husbandry, having good fields of Indian corn, and beans, and other sorts of grain, as oats, &c. They have good fence about their field, made with their own hands. Some of them live in houses built after the English manner, and Capt. Concopot has built a barn that is well shingled, &c. They have several horses among them, and some cows, hogs, &c. They are many of them grown industrious and diligent in busi- ness; I observed several young women sewing cloth, making shirts, &c. But I was in special gratify'd to find them improv'd in learning ; several of them have made good proficiency, can read in their Testaments and Bibles, and some of them can write a good hand : the children are in general as mannerly as you find in any country town. There are about 20 families of Indians that live there ; and now the great and general court have taken such effectual care, and put them in possession of the land, they have designed for them, (which hitherto they have been hindered from possessing,) I make no doubt but they will greatly increase in number ; for several Indians have been with them, and manifested a desire to tarry with them, could they have land to work upon. There is a church gather'd and fourteen Indian communicants ; the number of the baptiz'd is near sixty. While I was at Stockbridge, the Rev. Mr. Ser- geant (the minister there) was married to Mrs. Abigail Williams, a virtuous and . agreeable young gentlewoman, daughter of Ephraim Williams, Esq. There were ninety Indians present at the marriage, who behaved with great gravity while the prayers were made, yea, during the whole solemnity ; and seem'd exceedingly well pleased that their minister was married; they show him great respect, &c. And I hope he may prove yet a great blessing among them, and be instrumental of turning many of them from darkness to light.
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