History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts, Part 35

Author:
Publication date: 1958
Publisher: Springfield, Ma. : History & tradition of Shelburne Committee
Number of Pages: 232


USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Shelburne > History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts > Part 35


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Joseph Severance was owner of the house in 1905, and during his occupancy the bay window was added. It is interesting to know that Mr. Severance lived in at least five places in rural Shelburne, moving to some of them twice. He always improved his homes and added to each one a bay window to accommodate his wife's plants.


Joseph Severance moved up the road to the next house for a short time, and then returned to this house, where he died in 1910. His widow, with their son, George, and his wife, remained for a while on the farm.


Walter Burnham purchased it in 1918, and within a few years the house, repaired and modernized, be- came a Nursing Home for Elderlies, known as Dra- gon Brook Lodge.


THE HOME OF STEVENS DOLE - "THE ANDERSON HOUSE"


The house on Anderson Hill, west stairway from the Patten Road, is the home of the Stevens Dole family. It is now a century old, having been erected in 1858. There was, slightly north, an earlier house.


The first Anderson to climb the steep hill was John, who started life in Scotland; from there he went to Ireland, and thence to Colrain. Soon after Shelburne was incorporated, John and Margaret Stew- art Anderson, with their children, settled on the hill. He probably built the first house.


Undaunted by the sharpness of the rugged moun- tainside, John Anderson's courage in climbing and clearing his acres has been passed on to each genera-


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tion. Today's common expression of "sitting on top of the world" surely held a real meaning to this pioneer who farmed on high. His sons, James and David, followed in their father's footsteps. His grandsons, Robert and Joseph (sons of James), did likewise, while their younger brother, Alpheus, went west. He died early in life, and his widow and chil- dren came to his paternal home where his son, John, grew up, learning to farm under the training of his uncles. Well remembered is this John Anderson, founder of the famous Anderson Shorthorn herd of cattle.


After his death in 1919, John Anderson's daughter, Josephine, continued the farming of the land of her ancestors with the same family pride in accomplish- ment through hard work.


Now the sightly Anderson farm of six generations is owned by Stevens Dole, son of Eliza Anderson Dole.


A new road with easier grades was put through to Anderson Hill from the Mohawk Trail in 1957.


HOME OF HAROLD BAKER (Little Mohawk Road)


At the north in "Dublin," Harold Baker's house, historically young, was built by him from a wagon- house in 1928 and is the third house to be built on the lawn.


Allen Fiske, brother of Moses, lived in the first house, which was very old. He sold it to Harvey Fiske and moved down the road to the old Elam Kellogg house.


In 1882 Harvey Fiske built the second house, which burned.


THE ROY GOLDTHWAITE HOUSE (Little Mohawk Road)


Roy Goldthwaite's house west of the highway, one mile north of the church, is far too young to enter this history, but for the fact that its predecessor was one of the early houses of our town.


We do not know who built the old house, but Ella Dole Bardwell wrote in 1905, "Josiah and Elizabeth Wilder Dole moved from the house they built at the foot of Bald Mountain with their son, Levi, to the old home that stood where Orrin Roys' now stands. She died there and her husband then went to live in a house that stood where our parsonage is."


Moses Fiske became the next resident, and he sold the old house and farm to Luther Truesdell. A news- paper item of May 1879 stated, "Luther Truesdell has torn down the old house upon the Moses Fisk place which he recently purchased and is preparing to build a new one on the old site." While the new house was being built, the Truesdell family lived in the old Lyman Smith house across the present road.


Within a few years Luther Truesdell swapped his farm for Luther Franklin's farm.


Luther Franklin in a few years sold to Orrin Roys. The Roys family lived in a new house until 1907. when Roy Coates became resident for a year or two. He sold to Joseph Severance, who made his usual addition of a bay window. Soon he moved down the road.


The next resident-owner was Addison Goldthwaite. whose son now owns the place.


VERNE MITCHELL HOUSE ("The Lucy Bardwell place" - Patten)


Although the home of Verne Mitchell was not built on or particularly near the site of an earlier home, being so closely related to a former house on the farm - the large brick house that covered the cellar hole a few rods south - and perhaps to an unidentified frame house on the cellar hole north. it is included in this house group to make the histori- cal picture clear.


From Ella Dole Bardwell's historical notes of 1905 it has been learned that Enoch Dole, who built the large square brick house, mentioned in "Brick Houses," south of the present Mitchell house, had a son, George C., who "bought the farm near his father's and built a barn in 1858 and in 1860 the house where their children were born and his wife died in 1871." Dr. Mary P. Dole, who spent her retirement years in Peckville, was one of those chil- dren. A newspaper item of October 23, 1871, tells us, "The George Dole farm was sold at auction last Friday to Edgar Bardwell, price $+700."


In 1878 Orestes and Edgar Bardwell "bought a part of the old farm where Enoch lived," which in- cluded the old brick house, and enlarged their farm. After the death of these two brothers, Mrs. Lucy Bardwell, widow of Orestes, continued living on the farm until her death, when the estate was sold to her farm manager, Charley Zika. Within a year or two he sold to the present owner.


HOWARD TRUESDELL HOUSE ( Patten )


Another sightly farmhouse perched on the east slope not far from the upper entrance to Cooper's Lane and just south of Patten Hill is the home of the families of Howard Truesdell and his son, Parker.


It is a two-family house built by two Bardwell brothers, Baxter and Zenas. In 1866 Baxter Bard- well left Shelburne, having sold his new house and farm the year before to Gardner Truesdell, whose son, Tyler, became the next owner.


Tradition places the first house on this farm on the hill west of the present house. Perhaps it was the home of Reuben Bardwell, who, after a short stay in Foxtown, may have moved to the base of Patten Hill, because the following article in the town war- rant in 1820, "to see if the town will discontinue the road west of Reuben Bardwell's house leading to Enoch Dole's and lay another further west." indi-


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cates Reuben Bardwell's home was not far from the home of Enoch Dole, who we know lived east of the present Truesdell place and under the hill in a brick house just south of the present Verne Mitchell house ; also, the newspaper item of August 30, 1875, stating, "Marcus Bardwell is in town after an absence of 19 years to see his old native place now owned by Gardner Truesdell," tells us the old house was the home of his father, Osmyn Ottoway, possibly his grandfather, Samuel, and, as reasoned above, the home of his great-grandfather, Reuben Bardwell, one of the early settlers of Shelburne.


Osmyn Ottoway Bardwell, without doubt, lived in the old house west of the present Truesdell house. In 1845 and 1846, Osmyn Ottoway Bardwell was taxed for "1/3 saw mill and 1/2 shingle mill - $300." Three or four years following, he was still taxed for one-half shingle mill. He had a shingle mill as early as 1831.


As Osmyn Ottoway Bardwell went west sometime between 1853 and 1856, it follows that Baxter and Zenas Bardwell, from another branch of the Bard- well family, bought the farm and built the new house about that time.


The doors upstairs appear much older in design than those downstairs and were likely brought down from the old house. Door casings are wider at the base, just as they are in a few other Shelburne houses. The builder's name is not known.


EDWARD MONGEAU'S HOUSE


On the east side of the road near Shattuckville stood the old home of MI. Chandler Goodnough (son of Electa and Thomas) who, from county maps, was owner in 1859 and 1871. If built by him, as some folks think, the house was not as old as the salt-box home of his parents on the west side of the road.


Later. during the residence of Paul Yelle, the house burned. Its age is not known. If "Chan" Goodnough did not build his house, it may have been the boyhood home of Amariah Chandler, who became a noted pastor.


Amariah was five years old when his parents ( Moses and Persis Chandler) came to Shelburne about 1790. Electa, a daughter of his brother, Moses, married Thomas Goodnough in 1814 and they settled on the west side of the highway where the Peters family lives.


The name Chandler appears in town and church records earlier than the Goodnough name, but we have been unable to learn which one of the old "Chandler houses" marked the original homesite of Moses Chandler, Sr.


After the fire, Paul Yelle rebuilt on the same site, and the present house is owned by Edward Mongeau.


HOUSE OF COLIN FAY (Formerly William Clark's)


The late William Clark's house, sold by his widow to Stanley Gibbs and recently transferred to Colin


Fay, was built in 1916 on the site of an old house which burned.


The original house was owned and built by one of the many Ransoms who lived in Southeast Shelburne.


Whether Eben Hart, Jr., purchased from the Ran- soms during the latter part of the 18th century, or later from another owner, is not known. We do know that Eben Hart, Jr., owned the house in 1858 and that he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in it in 1875. Perhaps Eben Hart, Sr., preceded his son as owner.


Tradition tells us "The Hart Sisters" were mil- liners and "Mrs. Hart made bonnets."


A year or two after their marriage, William and Carrie Koenig came to the old house, where they raised their family. When their home of thirty-four years burned, they rebuilt.


After they died, their daughter and husband resided briefly in the home before selling to David Gibson. The Clarks followed in ownership.


THE CARL PETERSON HOUSE (Replacing "The Old Hart House")


On the slope just above Brimstone Hill, the Carl Peterson family lived until recently in a young house, still owned by them. The garage is on the site of Halloway L. Hart's home, which he and his brother, Eben, built. It was a charming little house. The small arched south porch with inviting built-in seat, facing the well-sweep and orchard, was unusually attractive. The woodwork of the fireplace and full-length cup- boards on each side were of beautiful design.


How long after 1858 Halloway Hart lived in this house is not known.


In 1871, C. Meyers was a resident. Later it was owned by the Sauter family.


David Jones, who for many years was Shelburne's rural mail carrier, making the long winding trip from Bardwell's Ferry Post Office around town with horse and buggy or sleigh, was the last resident. Owned by his granddaughter, the house remained empty many years.


THE GUY MANNERS HOUSE (Where stood the original Taylor Homestead )


John Taylor sold his Deerfield tavern and, accord- ing to his descendants and town papers, came to Shel- burne in 1758 ("Biographical Review" states 1759) and built a log cabin near the north end of Arthur's Seat, which is the southeast corner of Shelburne. At the time there were only two other settlers in the locality. Later, he built one of the first four houses in South Shelburne and his home is believed to have stood until the present house ( the home of the Man- nerses) replaced it.


John Taylor was prominent in town affairs. In 1768-69 he was first selectman with John Wells and Robert Wilson. He was a strong Whig and a mem- ber of the Provincial Congress at Concord in 1774.


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A son by the same name remained on the Taylor Homestead. Elias Taylor, son of John, Jr., spent his entire life on the place. His sons, John S. and George, were born there, and John was a lifelong resident of the paternal home, likewise his son, James. Following the death of James Taylor, fifth and last generation to farm the original Taylor Lot, the place was owned for a few years by Stanley Sills, from whom Guy Manners purchased in 1920.


The Manners house was framed in 1879. A news- paper item in April of that year stated, "John Taylor is building him a new house this season on the same site as the old one." This John (son of Elias and father of James) was great-grandson of John Taylor, the pioneer.


The buildings of this farm were not always on a dead-end road. Tradition informs us there was, at the east, a road which connected with the old "North and South Road."


Looking at the map of Shelburne many a person has wondered why the Greenfield-Deerfield boundary line deviated from the straight to enclose a rectangu- lar block. Only the Taylor descendants have given us the reason why their pioneer ancestor's farm was included within Shelburne. They say that in 1768 when Shelburne was given her charter and boundary lines were drawn, John Taylor was given his choice of being a resident of Shelburne or Deerfield and he chose Shelburne to avoid the long circuitous trip ferrying across the river to Old Deerfield.


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FARM HOUSE OF GUY MANNERS WHERE STOOD - "DR. BULL'S PLACE"


The present house on a slight rise at the foot of Bellows Hill and just beyond the "three corners" is the home of Guy Manners, Jr. Being middle-aged, this house is interesting only as a step backward to its predecessor - the "Dr. Bull place" - which is pictured above.


From "Reminiscences of Julia Bull Robbins" we read that William Bull ( father of Dr. George Bull) came with his family and father, John Partridge Bull, from Deerfield in 1790 to live in a new house believed


to have been constructed that year by him. It was a gambrel-roofed house with red oak hip rafters. An ell and shed were added later.


Charles MI. Taintor (born in Shelburne) wrote in 1889 that the Dr. Bull house was an old Ransom house built by the Ransoms and moved by them to where it stood. In using the word "believed" un- doubtedly Mrs. Robbins had no definite proof John P. Bull built the house but from facts told her by the family "believed" it to be so.


Furthermore, Mrs. Robbins informs us that, "five generations in direct lineal descent have been shel- tered in the old home."


Dr. Bull was born in this house, also his three children and one granddaughter. His grandson, C. Warren Robbins, the last of the Bull family to live there, took down the old house in 1904 and built the new house on the same site.


Dr. Bull planned the Oxbow Road in South Shel- burne. He taught himself surveying in order to do this. Considerable difficulty was encountered before his idea was accepted, but when he finally secured endorsement of his project, he joyfully took the good news home where his wife was having a quilting party with friends in the best room and, throwing his hat on the quilt stretched on the frames, he de- claimed, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished." He was more given to quoting Latin and Greek, which he read in the original as long as he lived, but on the above occasion only the ancient Hebrew (prophet) seemed adequate.


As we look at the picture of Dr. Bull's old house, our imagination penetrates those walls and we see Dr. Bull sitting before the enormous fireplace with his feet high on the mantel as he quotes his favorite poems.


Dr. Bull's grandfather, John Partridge Bull, was land surveyor and gunsmith. His shop stood a few rods from the house. MIrs. Julia Bull Robbins wrote that, "Memorial Hall possesses trophies of the work of this skilled gunsmith from plough shares to old- fashioned turnkey for extracting teeth."


We are grateful to Dr. Bull's granddaughter, Miss Almeda Robbins, for these choice items; also to her nephew, Nathaniel Clapp, for the picture of the old home.


HARRY KOCH'S HOUSE WITH ONE FOOT IN GREENFIELD (Near South Greenfield Road)


The Koch farmhouse with its beautiful view over- looking Greenfield and the Connecticut River Valley and situated in the center of the north boundary of Shelburne's off-line rhomboid that appears to encroach upon Deerfield's territory, is the second house on the site of the first one which burned. It has often been said that the inhabitants of this house on the Green-


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field-Shelburne line slept in Shelburne and ate in Greenfield.


From an old letter written in 1889 by Charles M. Taintor, it has been learned "A Mr. Ashley from Deerfield settled where Jonathan Slate and sons lived." (The Slates lived on the Koch farm.) George Sheldon's History of Deerfield tells us Jonathan Ashley, son of the minister by the same name, was "born 1739; graduated Yale College 1758; lawyer, with large practice; was a Tory, in consequence of which he got into trouble. After the Revolution he lived in Shelburne; was there in 1785-1786; sold his house here in 1786; died 1787." From Shelburne's town records we read, Jonathan Ashley was taxed for real estate in 1785, 1786, and 1787.


Mr. Taintor wrote further, "Afterwards old 'Uncle' Jack and Jeannie Anderson lived there and owned the farm. He was a Scotchman and a weaver and in the British service in the Revolutionary War. They gave the farm to Mr. William Bull for look- ing after them, and not many years afterward J. Slate bought it."


Jonathan Slate, who lived just over the Deerfield line, undoubtedly bought this place between March 1819 and August 1821, as a child was born in Deerfield on the first date and one in Shelburne on the second.


Clark Slate and his son, Charles, lived on the place until 1881, although --- according to the following newspaper items - the property was transferred : Sept. 1870 - "Clark Slate has sold his farm to Joel DeWolf, Jr., of W. Deerfield for $12,000."


Dec. 1870 --- "Joel DeWolf, Jr., has sold the Clark Slate farm which he bought last fall to Chas. Slate, son of Clark Slate."


Clark Slate, "post rider," delivered weekly the Gazette & Courier (Greenfield newspaper) from 1846 to 1865 throughout Shelburne, Charlemont, Hawley, Buckland, Ashfield and Conway.


After the Slates, the farm was owned by Emerson Ballou and his son, Charles, in succession over a period of thirty-six years. The Ballous (citizens whom Shelburne was glad to claim) sold to Arthur Potter, Sr., whose ownership was brief because of his death.


OLD BRICK HOUSES OF SHELBURNE


THERE are but five old brick houses in the agri- cultural part of the town; yet they merit a place in its annals. There are similarities other than bricks. All have experienced the ravages of time, but, owing to their innate value, all of them are retained as desirable residences. Singularly, four of them have developed, and are still developing, a popular trend of the day.


They have been purchased by outside parties pos- sessing more or less wealth, who are striving for the rare and the artistic in their homes, as well as the useful and the durable. Their continued efforts in this direction make them an asset to the town.


EDGAR GOULD'S (Cooper's Lane)


One of those brick houses has the distinction of being the only one occupied by the direct descendants of the earliest remembered family living there, the Bishop family. Lucy Bishop married Willard Gould. Their son, Arthur, was killed in an accident, leav- ing a widow and ten children in the old home. This widow, Mrs. Addie Gould, was able to keep the home, add improvements, and educate the children. Mrs. Addie Gould moved to California and her son, Edgar, and his family now carry on the place, where in 1958 they made one thousand gallons of maple syrup, breaking all previous Shelburne records.


"FOUR CHININEYS"


Another brick house is on the former Carpenter place. It was built in 1812 by Captain Parker Dole. He is remembered largely through his four efficient


daughters, who assisted in the brickwork of the house, even to the chimneys. They also helped pay for the house with the products of their looms. The cost was fifteen hundred dollars ($1500.) The house is said to be on the site of a log cabin. In Captain Dole's will he left each daughter an upstairs bedroom.


Parker Dole's daughter, Anna, married George W. Carpenter and he inherited the farm.


George W. Carpenter's son, Walter, married Ellen Wilder and on Dec. 16, 1835 he bought the "Car- penter Farm," which he carried on for sixty-five years. In June 1900 he sold the place to Fred B. Hutchins and went to live with his daughter, Maria ( Mrs. David Long), on the Bardwell's Ferry Road.


Eugene McGilvery owned the place from 1913 to 1916 when it was bought by Frederic E. Wells and named Wellsmont. F. E. Wells with his son, F. W. Wells, founded an extensive fruit business in Shel- burne, combining with the Arthur Bishop place on Bardwell's Ferry Road known as Wellsmont Or- chards.


Fred W. Wells inherited the farm on May 2, 1936. Ethel Dow Wells inherited the place in March 1946. From the time the property came into the Wells family until September 1957 it was used by them as a summer home.


A few of the interesting features are the hand- carved cornice, four chimneys and Christian cross front doorway with fan lights and hand-carved lintel and jambs. Inside are a built-in Grandfather's clock, recessed windows, and a fireplace in every room.


Present owners (1958) are John R. King and Isobel Reymes King, and it is now called "Four Chimneys."


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Four Chimneys


Another brick house was erected in 1812. It was built by Elihu Smead, the great-grandfather of this writer. It was my home for many years. Elihu Smead was considered to have some wealth, as wealth was accounted in those days.


He had the income from a sawmill and a grist- mill as well as from his farm. He evidently put considerable money into his house with its mahogany front stairs and six fireplaces.


In the third story was a sizable ballroom with an inside balcony for the musicians as well as equipment for heating, lighting and seating.


My grandmother, Mercy Smead, and grandfather, Samuel Fiske, were married there. But a ballroom was not approved by all the people of the town. 1 am told that once when a dancing school was being carried on there, the minister preached against danc- ing every Sunday from the start to the finish.


Elihu Smead was succeeded by his son, Solomon. He married Dorinda Dole, another daughter of Cap- tain Parker Dole. They had two daughters whom they educated at the then-called Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Their son, Elihu, remained at home. After the death of Solomon they sold the place. It was bought by Samuel Fiske and his son, Solomon. The legal steps should have gone through harmoniously as they were relatives, but they did not. In the deed, the Smead family had reserved the fine marble mantel in the south parlor. Indignation pre- vailed. A lawyer was consulted. He said the mantel could be taken out, but the old one must be put back in and any mutilation must be settled for by the Smead family. A family feud was on but later was settled amicably. The marble mantel still holds its own in the old south parlor.


The Fiske family ran the place for many years.


They named it "The Maples" because of the fine old trees which then partially surrounded it. Most of the older townspeople remember a mill at "The Maples." I remember the old mill that preceded it. It was probably built by my great-grandfather. I am ninety years old. It was a long, rambling struc- ture of blackened wood, having ponderous machinery. Spaced around the rim of the huge water wheel were wooden troughs, the filling and emptying of which furnished the power. On cold nights ice formed and a wood stove was kept nearby.


One night, and I well remember it, the family was awakened by a bright light. The mill was on fire! It burned to the ground. It was a great loss to the community, but a fine old Shelburne custom helped out. A subscription paper was circulated and friends and neighbors contributed towards a new mill. Labor was contributed also. The grindstones of the mill are still imbedded, but no one knows the exact loca- tion. The place is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Avery Bates.


HOUSE OF JOHN FRIEND


Early in the nineteenth century another brick house was added to the town. Probably it represented more of wealth and artistry than any of the others. It was the only Shelburne house listed in the Historic Amer- ican Buildings Survey Catalogue. It was built by Ira Arms, who did so much for Shelburne. It was apparently designed by Asher Benjamin, noted Green- field architect, as the mantel and other parlor decora- tions were exact copies of his pictures.


All of the woodwork is of high order, notably that of the front door and cornice. Mr. Arms also built the adjoining wooden house. That was for the help.


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In 1841 Francis Alvarez Fiske, Sr., following his marriage to M. Ophelia Bardwell, bought from Major Arms the frame house and one hundred twenty-five acres of land. The deed gave him "one undivided half of the cornhouse, one half of the hog pen and carriage house, the whole of the sugarhouse" and the privilege of using the barn floor and the water from the well.




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