USA > Massachusetts > Historical collections, being a general collection of interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to the history and antiquities of every town in Massachusetts, with geographical descriptions > Part 9
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CLARKSBURG.
THIS town is seven miles in length and about two and a half in breadth. It received its name, it is supposed, from the numerous families of Clarks who settled there. The settlement was com- menced in 1769, by Capt. Matthew Ketchum, his son Matthew, and his cousins Epenetus, Daniel and Samuel. These came from Long Island. Nicholas Clark and his brothers Aaron, Stephen and Silas moved in about the same time from Cumberland, R. I. The
68
DALTON.
town was incorporated March 2, 1798. The petitioners desired to have it incorporated by the name of Hudson, from a man of that name who was supposed to have cut the first tree in the town which was felled by a white man. This man continued in the place only two or three months. Why the name inserted in the petition was changed, the inhabitants never knew. Hudson's brook yet bears the name.
The surface of this township is uneven, and the soil is hard and stony. About two thirds of the town lies on the Bald and Hoosic mountains. The mountain land is cold and rocky. Its principal commodity is lumber ; considerable quantities of spruce and hem- lock timber being annually carried to Adams and Williamstown. The people are Baptists and Methodists, there being about an equal number of each. Situated 27 miles N. by E. of Lenox and 125 miles W. by N. of Boston. Population, 386,
DALTON.
THIS town began to be settled about 1755. Among the first set- tlers were the Chamberlains, the Cadys, the Boardmans, Gallups, Lawrences, Merrimans, Parks, &c. Dr. Marsh, a graduate of Harvard College, and a judge of the county court, was also one of the early settlers. The venerable Dea. Williams moved into the town some years after from Hatfield. He was a leader and guide to the people for many years, and an ornament and glory to the town. He was a trustee of Williamstown College, and a senator in the state legislature. He died March 1, 1808, aged 74. The town was incorporated in 1784, and named Dalton, after the Hon. Tristram Dalton, then speaker of the house of repre- sentatiyes. The length of the township is about 9 miles. The rich and beautiful vale of Dalton is in the center of the town. The eastern branch of the Housatonic runs through it, and, by a cir- cuitous route, encloses as on three sides an elevation of land of more than 100 acres in the center of the whole vale, Here are two meeting-houses, 1 Congregational and 1 Methodist, and about 25 dwelling-houses in the vicinity. From this elevation it is esti- mated may be seen three fourths of the houses in the town. The land is generally productive. Spring wheat is more easily raised than in many towns in the county, and the soil is suitable for In- dian corn. The meadows on the Housatonic river are not so ex- tensive as on many towns below. The Congregational church in the town was formed Feb. 16, 1785. Rev. James Thompson was the first minister, ordained in March, 1795. The society have a parsonage-house, with 70 acres of land; purchased by the avails of lands lying in the town devised them by Col. Israel Williams and Dea. Obadiah Dickinson, of Hatfield. The present meeting-house was built in 1812. There are a few Baptist families in the town, and a society of Methodists. The center of the town is 10 miles northerly of Lenox, and 120 miles W. of Boston. Population 830.
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EGREMONT.
There is a woollen mill, and two paper-mills, which manufacture paper to the value of between 30 and 40,000 dollars annually.
EGREMONT.
THE regular settlement of this town commenced about 1730, though it is said some Dutch people, supposing it belonged to the colony of New York, settled in it at an earlier period. Between 1730 and 1756, many families moved into the place from New York and from the New England colonies. Among the first set- tlers were Nicholas Karner, Jacob Karner, Cornelius Spoor, Ebe- nezer Baldwin, Aaron Loomis, Josiah Phelps, John Perry, Timo- thy Hopkins, Elias Hopkins, Nehemiah Messenger, Benjamin Trumain, Samuel Colver, Samuel Younglove, William Webb, Jon- athan Welch, Samuel Welch, Robert Joyner, Gideon Church, Ebenezer Smith, Aaron Sheldon, Israel Taylor, William Roberts, Joseph Hicks, Edward Baily, Abraham Andrews, and John Fuller. The township is about five and a half miles in length and four and a half in breadth. It was incorporated as a district in 1760, and called by its present name. It was invested with full town privi- leges, except the right of sending a representative to the general court, which right was to be held in common with the town of Sheffield : some years after, this right was granted. The soil of the township is various, but generally productive. Most of it is better adapted to tillage than grazing. The inhabitants erected a house for public worship in 1767, and raised money for the support of the gospel. ' Feb. 5, 1770, they invited the Rev. Eliphalet Steele, a native of West Hartford and graduate of Yale College, to settle with them. On the 20th of the same month, the Congrega- tional church was organized, and Mr. Steele ordained on the 28th of June following. The people were generally united in their pastor, until the time of Shays' rebellion. As he was supposed to be friendly to the government, the malcontents became his ene- mies and opposers. On one occasion, several armed ruffians vio- lently entered his residence in the night, and, after treating him in an insolent and abusive manner, took away his watch and various articles of clothing. Difficulties continuing to increase, Mr. Steele was dismissed by a council on the 29th of April, 1794, and removed into the state of New York. The church gradually decreased by deaths and removals until 1814, when it was considered to be extinct. In 1816, the present Congregational church was organized. It was begun with 14 members. Rev. Gardner Hayden was ordain- ed their pastor Nov. 23, 1820. A Baptist church was formed in the north part of this town in 1787; the society obtained their act of incorporation in 1808, and in 1817 erected their meeting-house. There is a Methodist society in the south-west part of the town, who hold their meetings in a school-house. This town is 15 miles southerly of Lenox, and 12S W. of Boston. Population, 968.
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GREAT BARRINGTON.
FLORIDA.
THIS town began to be settled about 1783. Dr. Daniel Nelson settled in it in that year, and in the course of two years he was joined by Paul Knowlton, Sylvanus Clark, Nathan Drury, Esq., Jesse King, Esq., and Stephen Staples. Soon after 1795 there was a considerable accession of inhabitants. The length of the town- ship on an average may be about 4 miles. It was incorporated in 1805. It being situated on the height of the Green mountain range, the surface is broken and the climate cold and severe. The people derive their support chiefly from their stock and dairies. A Congregational church was formed May 4, 1814, consisting of 11 members. A Baptist church was organized in 1810, with about 20 members. Their meeting-house was built in 1824. There are a few Methodists in the town, living mostly on Deerfield river. Situated 27 miles N. N. E. of Lenox, and 120 W. by N. of Boston. Number of inhabitants 457.
GREAT BARRINGTON.
THE settlement of this town commenced about 1730. The lower part of it was settled in connection with Sheffield. Some families it is said were located above the bridge before 1730. Of these were Laurens and Sydney Suydam (supposed to have been brothers), from Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Some of the first settlers were Dutch, others were English. Among the latter were Joshua White, Moses Ingersoll, Moses and William King, Thomas Dewey, Heze- kiah Phelps, Israel Orton, and Joshua Root.
This town is formed of parts of the upper and lower Housatonic townships, sur- veyed by authority of the general court in 1736. There were 30 proprietors of the upper Housatonic township. House or home lots were laid out for them on both sides of the river from the bridge to Monument mountain. Here improvements were begun. From the house lots, long parallel lots were laid out to Tyringham line. The Họp lands (so called), in the north-east part of the town, in the region of Hop brook, were laid out in a similar manner. The land on Monument mountain and part of the north plain was laid out in equalizing lots, that is, in lots so proportioned as to render the preceding divisions equal to the particular right of each individual. The tract em- braced in the present town was formed into a parish about 1740, and called the second parish of Sheffield. In 1761 it was selected as the seat of justice for the county of Berkshire, and in the course of that year it was incorporated a town by the present name. County buildings were afterwards erected in the town, and courts held here till 1787, when they were removed to Lenox. The town is about 7 miles in length, and 6 in breadth. About 1755, in the second French war, a block-house was built, about a mile above the bridge on the west side of the river, as a place of security to which the inhabitants might fiee in case of an attack.
In 1743 (when there were only 30 families in the place) the people employed the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, afterwards Dr. Hop- kins, to preach with them, and after a short trial settled him the same year in the ministry. He was ordained the 28th of Dec., on which day the church was organized. He was dismissed at his own request on the 18th of Jan. 1769.
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71
GREAT BARRINGTON.
He was born at Waterbury, Con., and was a direct lineal descendant of Stephen Hop- kins, one of the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in Dec. 1620. He graduated at Yale College in 1741, and studied theology with the first President Edwards, then minister at Northampton. His mental powers were strong, and fitted him for deep and thorough investigation. While at Great Barrington, and Newport, R. I., (where he settled after he left Mass.) he published a number of sermons and books on subjects of doctrine which excited considerable controversy. In 1793 he pub- lished his System of Divinity, the sentiments advocated in which were highly Calvin- istic, and are generally termed Hopkinsinian.
The village of Great Barrington, which extends about three fourths of a mile on the western borders of the Housatonic, con- sists of upwards of 50 dwelling-houses, 2 churches, 1 Episcopal and 1 Congregationalist, a printing-office, and various mechanic shops. The village is well built, and deeply shaded by elms and other trees. It is 6 miles from Sheffield, 14 south of Lenox, 25 eastward from Hudson, and 125 from Boston. "In 1837 there were in the town 4 cotton mills, which consumed 170,000 lbs. of cotton ; 920,000 yards of cotton goods manufactured, valued at $64,600; there were 2 woollen mills, which consumed 32,000 lbs. of wool, and 52,500 yards of cloth manufactured. There were in the town 2,657 merino sheep, which produced 6,642 lbs. of wool, the value of which was $3,321; one furnace for the manufacture of pig iron, employing 20 hands ; 180 tons of pig iron were made, valued at $7,200. Population, 2,440.
The Episcopal society in this town was formed about the year 1760. The church was instituted by the Rev. Solomon Palmer, then a missionary at Litchfield and New Milford, Con., from the society in England for propagating religion in foreign parts. The society have a parsonage-house and lands, and besides the church they have a chapel in Van Deusenville to accommodate the people in the north part of the society. The Congregational and Episcopal societies were incorporated by the legislature in 1791. There are some Methodist people in town, who mostly reside in the east and north-east parts.
The most noted mountain in this section of country is Monu- ment mountain, in the north part of this town, which rises up directly from the east bank of the Housatonic, and extends into Stockbridge. The engraving shows the appearance of this, as it is seen from the south-east on the road towards Stockbridge. It derived its name from a rude monument of stones on the south- eastern point, a short distance from the county road, which it is to be regretted is now demolished. The pile was six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base, and raised in the form of an obtuse cone over the grave of one of the aborigines. It was a custom of the Indians whenever an individual passed by the tomb of his countryman to cast a stone upon it. By this slow method of accu- mulation, the heap in question rose in a series of years to the size just mentioned. According to tradition "the person buried here was a female, who had thrown herself from the cliffs of the moun- tain through the influence of a passionate love for a cousin, whom the religion of the natives would not allow her to marry, because
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GREAT BARRINGTON.
South-eastern view of Monument Mountain.
the connection was deemed incestuous." Some years since a poem was written on this tradition, entitled Monument Mountain, by William C. Bryant, a native of Cummington, then an inhabitant of this town. The following extract from the first part of the poem correctly delineates the scenery of this mountain, and in most re- spects the description is equally applicable to much of the mountain scenery in the western part of the state.
Thou who wouldst see the lovely and the wild Conducts you up the narrow battlement. Steep is the western side, shaggy and wild, With mossy trees and pinnacles of flint, And many a hanging crag. But to the east Sheer to the vale go down the bare old cliffs,- Huge pillars, that in middle heaven uprear ; Their weather-beaten capitals here dark With the thick moss of centuries, and there Of chalky whiteness, where the thunderbolt Has splinter'd them. It is a fearful thing To stand upon a beetling verge and see Where storms and lightning from the huge gray wall Have tumbled down vast blocks, and at the base Dashed them in fragments, and to lay thine ear Mingled in harmony on Nature's face, Ascend our rocky mountain. Let thy foot Fail not with weariness, for on their tops The beauty and the majesty of earth Spread wide beneath shall make thee to forget The steep and toilsome way. There as thou stand'st, The haunts of men below thee, and above The mountain summits, thy expanded heart Shall feel a kindred with that loftier world To which thou art translated, and partake The enlargement of thy vision. Thou shalt look Upon the green and rolling forest tops, And down into the secrets of the glen. And streams, that with their bordering thickets strive Over the dizzy depth, and hear the sound To hide their windings. Thou shalt gaze at once Of winds, that struggle with the woods below, Come up like ocean murmurs. But the scene Is lovely round ; a beautiful river there Wanders amid the fresh and fertile meads, The paradise he made unto himself, Mining the soil for ages. On each side The fields swell upward to the hills ; beyond, Here on white villages, and tilth and herds, And swarming roads, and there on solitudes, That only hear the torrent and the wind And eagle's shriek. There is a precipice That seems a fragment of some mighty wall Built by the hand that fashioned the old world To separate its nations, and thrown down Above the hill, in the blue distance, rise When the flood drowned then. To the north a path The mighty columns with which earth props heaven.
That there were' anciently Indian settlements in this town, is evident from various circumstances. In addition to utensils and weapons of Indian manufacture, which have been often found, it is known that, as early as 1726, the river used to be crossed half a mile below the bridge, at what was then called the "Great Wigwam." This place was sometimes called the "Castle," or rather, perhaps, the great wigwam stand -. ing upon it. There is also a tradition that there was a considerable Indian settlement at this spot. Indian graves have also been found three fourths of a mile above the bridge, on the east side of the river. One man, in digging thirteen post-holes to secure his barn-yard, discovered the remains of six bodies.
This settlement must have been abandoned before the autumn of 1734 ; for at that time there were no Indians in the county, except at Stockbridge and Sheffield, and perhaps a family or two in New Marlborough. But in the two winters following, the
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HANCOCK.
Indians were collected from Stockbridge and Sheffield, somewhere in this town, for the purpose of receiving instruction more conveniently from the missionary and school- master sent among them, previous to the final establishment of the mission in Stock- bridge. They may have been collected at the Great Wigwam, but were probably further north.
The following circumstance is related by Dr. Dwight as having occurred at the great bridge in this town. It is too remarkable not to be introduced here.
" A Mr. Van Rensselaer, a young gentleman from Albany, came one evening into an inn, kept by a Mr. Root, just at the eastern end of the bridge. The inn-keeper, who knew him, asked him where he had crossed the river. He answered, "' On the bridge.' Mr. Root replied, that that was impossible, because it had been raised that very day, and that not a plank had been laid on it. Mr. Van Rensselaer said that it could not be true, because his horse had come over without any difficulty or reluctance ; that the night was indeed so profoundly dark as to prevent him from seeing anything distinctly ; but that it was incredible, if his horse could see sufficiently well to keep his footing anywhere, that he should not discern the danger, and impossible for him to pass over the bridge in that condition. Each went to bed dissatisfied, neither believ- ing the story of the other. In the morning, Mr. Van Rensselaer went, at the solicita- tion of his host, to view the bridge, and, finding it a naked frame, gazed for a moment with astonishment, and fainted."
HANCOCK.
THE first and principal grant in this town was made by the legislature, in 1760, to Asa Douglass, Esq., and Timothy Hurl- burt, of Canaan, Con., Col. John Ashley of Sheffield, and Josiah Dean. The first grantee became a settler in April 1762, with whom were soon associated John Clothier, Jesse Squire, Amasa and Martin Johnson, Benjamin Davis, Samuel Grippen, David Sprague, Samuel Hand, Esq., Capt. Caleb Gardner, David Vaughan, Reuben Ely, Henry Hazard and Jonathan Hazard, Esq. They were mostly from Connecticut and Rhode Island, and settled about the north village, and northward towards Williamstown.
In 1761, Charles Goodrich, Esq., of Pittsfield, obtained a grant of land on the south end of the town, and in 1764 his nephew Daniel Goodrich settled upon it; and the following year Benjamin Goodrich, the father of Daniel, settled there, with all his other sons, viz. Benjamin, Samuel, Nathan, David, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, and Enoch. Jeremiah and Hezekiah Osborn, father and son, and Israel Talcot, settled there about the same time. The Goodriches and Osborns were from Ridgfield-Talcot from Wethersfield, Con. Soon after the grant to Charles Goodrich, small grants were made in the north part of the town to Dea. Samuel Brown, of Stockbridge, and Col. Farrington. The remainder of the town was sold by a committee of the general court to the actual settlers in 1789, at different prices per acre, according to the quality. The place was first called Jericho, on account of the high natural walls on each side, that is, the mountains. At the time of its incorporation in 1776, it was named Hancock in honor of John Hancock, then president of the continental congress, and afterwards governor of the state. The township is nearly 16 miles in length, and about two in breadth. It was formerly wider, but when the line was finally established between Massachusetts and New York, in 1787, a tier of fine lots, upward of half a mile in length, were thrown into the latter state. A narrow valley extends south about 7 miles from the line of Williamstown to the north village of Hancock, along which is a succession of good farms extending from the valley to the right and left on to the sides of the mountains. For several miles south from this village, the township is so broken and mountainous that no highway has been cut through it.
The Shakers have a village in the south-cast part of the town, 10
caps
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HANCOCK.
which extends into the edge of Pittsfield. They sprung up in this town about 1780. Some persons about that time began to visit mother Ann and the elders at Escuania, near Albany. Approv- ing of the tenents of the Shakers, they immediately set up their meetings according to the customs of that sect. They built their meeting-house in 1784.
Shaker Village in Hancock.
The above is a view of some of the principal buildings in the Shaker village, which is 4 miles from Pittsfield, 7 from Lenox, and 5 from New Lebanon Springs. The large three-story build- ing seen in the central part of the engraving is constructed of brick, is 102 feet long, and 53 feet wide. There are six families, as they are termed, in the settlement, containing in the whole about 130 or '40 persons. The circular stone barn seen in the engraving in distance, a short distance southerly from the three- story building, was built in 1826, and is something of a curiosity. "It is 270 feet in compass, with walls laid in lime, rising 21 feet above the underpinning, and from three and a half to two and a half feet in thickness. The mast and rafters are 53 feet in length, and united together at the top. On the lower floor, immediately with- in the walls, are stables, 8 feet high, occupying 12 feet in length, with the manger, which is inwards, and into which convenient places are left for throwing hay and feed from above. In these stables, which open to and from several yards, a span of horses and 52 horned cattle may be stabled. The covering of the stables forms the barn floor, on to which from an offset there is but one large doorway for teams, which make the circuit of the floor, and pass out at the same place. Eight or ten can occupy the floor at the same time; and the hay is thrown into the large area in the center. For simply laying the stone of this building the masons were paid 500 dollars and boarded."
Most of the inhabitants of the town have ever been of the Bap- tist denomination. A congregation was early formed, which held
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HINSDALE.
their meetings for a time in a log house about a mile and a quar- ter above the north village. Their present meeting-house was built in 1797. Elder Clark Rogers, from R. I., was their first minister, and was settled over them in about 1770. The town is 15 miles N. by W. of Lenox, and 129 W. of Boston. Population, 975. Agriculture is the principal business of the inhabitants.
HINSDALE.
THE settlement of this town was commenced about the close of the second French war, probably in the year 1762. The first who settled in the town were Francis, David, and Thomas Miller, brothers, from Middlebury. Francis Miller was a man of conside- rable note. He was employed as a surveyor by the government, and surveyed the road from Boston to Albany, and run the line between Massachusetts and New York. Other of the first settlers were Nathan and Wilson Torrey, from Rhode Island, and Joseph Watkins and 5 sons from Hopkinton. About 1771, Nathan Fisk, who was among the first settlers, built a grist and saw mill, for which he received a premium from the government of 250 acres of land. In 1774 and 75 Nathaniel Tracy, Abner Bixbe, James Wing, and two families by the name of Frost, settled in the town. In 1781 Richard Starr, from Groton, Con., came into the town, and was of great service to the religious interests of the people.
This town originally belonged to Peru on the east and Dalton on the west. In 1795 they were incorporated as a parish, by the name of the west parish of Partridgefield (now Peru), and in 1804 they were invested with town privileges and incorporated by the name of Hinsdale. In the year first mentioned the Rev. Theodore Hins- dale, after whom the town was named, (came from Windsor, Con.) and settled in the part of the town which then belonged to Dalton, and was very active, in connection with Dea. Starr, in gathering and organizing a Congregational church. This church was formed in Dec. of that year, consisting of 23 members. In 1797 a Baptist church was formed, of which Elder Eleazer Smith was the first minister. They have a meeting-house, built in 1818. There are 3 churches in the center of the town, 1 Congregational, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist.
This township is situated on the west side of the Green moun- tain range, and is 7 miles in length, and from 3 to 4 in breadth. It is 15 miles N. N. E. of Lenox and 124 W. of Boston. Population 832. In 1837 there were 2 woollen mills, which consumed 57,000 lbs. of wool; 25,000 yards of cloth were manufactured, valued at $74,000. There were 2,000 Saxony and 8,920 merino sheep, and the value of the wool produced in the town was $19,266.
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LANESBOROUGH.
LANESBOROUGH.
Southern view of Lanesborough.
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