History of Athol, Massachusetts, Part 2

Author: , William G., compiler
Publication date: 1953
Publisher: Athol, Mass
Number of Pages: 756

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As the Committee in charge had no especial group or class of men whom they were bound to favor, it is not surprising that the grantees came from scattered sections of the colony and were of a widely diversified character. (4)

From the day the original plans were drawn, this territory of Pequoig was doomed to be divided against itself. Instead of

(4) See Appendix 2.

West East 13

East West 9 James Kellogg

West East 4

Charles Dulharthy

West West 13 John Grout

Abraham Nutt

West East

2. Capt. Joseph Bowman West West

HISTORY OF ATHOL

consolidating these sixty-three house lots in one group, they were divided into two groups nearly equal in number. Thirty- three of them were laid out on East Pequoig Hill, which is now Pleasant Street in Athol, and thirty were located on West Pequoig Hill on a street extending from well south of the Sentinel Elm(5) northerly a short distance beyond the present Gale-Brooks School, nearly all of these thirty being now within the limits of the town of Orange. As each house lot repre- sented a share in the outlaying land, the arrangement of their grouping was the fore-shadowing of an eventual Upper and Lower Village, and of many changes in boundary lines.

Hardly had the surveyors of the township blazed the "center tree," when Capt. Zachariah Field memorialized Governor Belcher. Reciting his accomplishments in securing title to this land from the aborigine owners and the subsequent donation of his title to the Crown, Zachariah Field asked to be rewarded for his service to his King.

Capt. Field's request was granted in land. The Great and General Court voted on December 4, 1734 to grant him eight hundred acres of land to be laid out in either one or two plots adjoining this township. One-half of this land was confirmed to him on December 3, 1735. Adjoining the township on the northwest, this allotment must have been in the region of the place long known as "the Cheney Mansion" in Orange.

June 18, 1736, nine months after the arrival of the first set- tlers in Paquoig, the balance of the grant was confirmed to Capt. Field. This tract, of indefinite description, was situated in the vicinity of Eagleville Pond. Out of it was reserved a roadway from Pequoig to Hatfield. Though the plans of these tracts are now in my possession, the boundaries are so indefi- nite that it is hard to locate them with much accuracy.

At length Capt. Field viewed his donations and then wrote the Governor that these latter or southerly four hundred acres were "so mean" as to be hardly worth subduing. To appease this loyal servant of the Crown, some land west of Deerfield was suggested. With authorization to view it, he made his choice and on May 29, 1742 was granted land said to have been situated within the present limits of Checkley's Town (Charlemont).

(5) Sunday, Oct. 25, 1931, during a severe wind and electrical storm this giant elm with a circumference of some nine feet blew over, leaving not more than thirty feet of its original ninety-three. Since pioneer days Sentinel Elm had been a landmark for many miles around.

THAT NEW TOWNSHIP

Thus our heritage from Zachariah Field's early purchase. Twelve pounds and Pequoig, later to be known as Athol, came into being. The unfolding of its story is that of brave men and women, boys and girls, extending a piece of frontier in North America. In turn, their heritage stems from men of valor who sailed westward to establish new frontiers. Bronzed and wiry, these earliest Americans of diverse positions in life worked hard to wrest their living from the sea and soil. Significant to us is the fact that they came to this New World to make homes.

CHAPTER II FIRST SETTLEMENT

A LITTLE more than a year passed after the house lots were drawn in Concord, Massachusetts before actual settlement was made in the township of Pequoig. On September 17, 1735. five enterprising men with their courageous wives set out on foot from Hatfield and struggled east over the "Hatfield Road," then little more than a trail through the forest. With clothing, provisions and furniture on their backs, and guided by marked trees, they made their way to their new home.

Walking together with their womenfolk that September day were Richard Morton, Samuel Morton, Ephraim Smith, John Smeed and Joseph Lord - immortal names in the history of Athol.(6) Beset by constant fear of prowling Indians, they set about to subdue the wilderness and to wrest a livelihood from the soil.

Although only Richard Morton and Joseph Lord were lot owners on the east street yet they seem to have been accorded priority in home construction, perhaps because babies were ex- pected in these two families, but all must be provided with some shelter for the oncoming winter days. It is said that the Richard Morton home was first built which was quickly fol- lowed by that of Dr. Lord. Although all information we have, both written and traditional, fixes the first day of arrival of these settlers as in the last days of summer 1735, yet it is more reasonable to suppose that earlier pilgrimages had been made here through the preceding months and some preliminary preparations made both for humans and beasts.

With no mill facilities within many miles it is probable that these first dwellings were built of logs felled immediately ad- jacent to the home site, the bark from the hemlocks being the roof covering, and as no bricks were available the rude fire- places that provided both heat and cooking facilities were fash- ioned from the stones which abounded on the house sites.

We can only guess whether any one of the three families. owning West Hill lots built a home that first autumn, possibly'

(6) Rev. S. F. Clarke's "Centennial Discourse" 1850, p. 4.

FIRST SETTLEMENT

yes, perhaps probably these found shelter that first winter on the east street.

On Christmas Day 1735, Richard Morton's son, Abraham, was born, and about three weeks later, on January 17, 1736, Thomas Lord became the second white male child of Pequoig. He was to become Capt. Thomas Lord, a soldier in the French and Indian War, and Captain of an Athol Company during the Revolution. On October 28, 1737 was the third child of this community born - a girl, daughter of Samuel Morton. Un- known is the number of children in any of these families when they came here.

It is said that the five pioneer wives of Pequoig agreed that the first three children to be born here should be named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Madam Richard Morton proudly carried out her agreement, but when a son came to Dr. Lord's home, the mother, piqued perhaps by having her son second rather than first, disregarded the arrangement and named him Thomas. When Madam Samuel Morton gave birth to a girl, who was named Margaret or Margerie, the poetic thought of those good wives of old Pequoig all but came to naught.

The days were hardly long enough for all that had to be done. Land must be cleared, roads made passable, and a stock- ade or fort built against Indian attack. The work of clearing their land and preparing it for cultivation proceeded slowly, owing both to the lack of implements, and the hostility of the Indians making it necessary to be armed constantly. Alone in this unbroken wilderness, eighteen miles distant from their nearest trading center at Hardwick, they survived that first winter.

Spring of 1736 brought many additions to the number of Proprietors when probably the west settlement on Pequoig Hill was begun. Just how many came is indefinite for all records of the first fourteen years of the township were lost. Infinite research, however, shows that the following were undoubtedly among these early settlers:

Daniel Brown of Lexington Ensign George Cutting of Waltham Joshua Dickinson of Hatfield Moses Dickinson of Hatfield Nathaniel Graves of Hatfield Edward Goddard of Shrewsbury Joseph Harrington of Weston Samuel Kendall of Woburn

HISTORY OF ATHOL

Abner Lee of Worcester John Longley of Groton Amariah Lyon of Shrewsbury Robert Marble of Marlborough Abraham Nutt (former residence unknown) William Oliver(7)

Brothers John, James, and Robert

Samuel Robinson of Grafton Samuel Tenney of Littleton Gad Waite of Hadley or Hatfield Ezekiel Wallingford (former residence unknown)

John Wood, probably of Stowe Robert Young(7) of Holliston

This increase in their numbers meant immediate action for mutual protection from the Red Man. First to be built was a fort on East Pequoig Hill, about twenty rods from where the second meeting house was subsequently erected. Within its enclosure was a well.

The West fort was soon erected nearly due east of Sentinel Elm, and almost directly north of the "Hager Place," lately owned by Anton Sevelius. Here in the West fort in the winter of 1752-53 were quartered a detachment of troops sent by the Colony to protect this far-away frontier. Entirely unmarked, the original boundaries of this stockade were staked out by my uncle, Franklin G. Lord, a few years before his death in 1917, when we visited this site together. Frank Lord knew these boundaries for it was he who had cleared away the last of the fort some sixty years previous.

Statements of the Proprietors in this period of our history place a garrison house on the knoll, now removed, north of the Pequoig House. For the maintenance of these three protec- tions, the township received financial assistance on November 7, 1743, when the General Court allowed £100 to Poquaig.

Into these forts all of the families would gather at the sig- nal of danger. In fact there were many occasions when they slept and lived in the stockade and ventured out only when well armed. Rev. S. F. Clarke in his "Centennial Discourse" wrote in 1850: "There are those still living in town who have heard

(7) Clarke in his "Centennial Discourse," p. 4 writes: "The Olivers were direct from Ireland, stout, hardy, resolute men. Robert Young was from the north of Scotland, whence he removed to Cork in Ireland, and subsequently to this country. He was a weaver by profession, and removed from Holliston. in the County of Middlesex, to Pequoiag."

FIRST SETTLEMENT

their ancestors relate how, as night spread its mantle of dark- ness over the forest, and around their infant settlement, all would gather together in the garrison and sit silently without lights, listening with a cautious ear to every external sound, querying if each uncommon noise might not be the signal of danger from the hostile Indians."

For twenty years there was little safety far from these havens of refuge. Slyly viewing these encroachments on his domain, the Indian eventually sweeps down, captures some of these hardy settlers and takes them away to the northward. The war between France and England known as King George's War which broke out in 1744 greatly increased the dangers to the white settlements for this whole territory was at that time harassed by the savage allies of the King of France.

It was during these perilous times that Ezekiel Wallingford was killed by the Indians near his 78-acre farm on West Hill. That evening of August 17, 1746 in the west fort, Wallingford heard sounds like bears in his nearby cornfield, and ventured out to drive them away. The noise had been made by the Indians to lure him to sure death. Fully armed, a group of Wal- lingford's neighbors laid his body the next day in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, while a band of savages trooped northward to claim the reward paid for an English scalp.

Jason Babcock, a friend of the Wallingfords, immediately offered assistance to the widow Lidia W. and her five children. It is easily understood why she made plans to return to Con- cord, Massachusetts. Within a few weeks Babcock drove the farm stock to Concord, a distance of some sixty miles as the roads were then traveled, and for this service received the sum of £4, o. t. "The said stock was comprised of the following described viz: One farrow cow, valued at £11; one red heifer coming 3, at £9; one red steer, coming 3 at ₺7.10.0; one red steer, coming 2 at £5; one red cow, at £10."

The records infer that Babcock made a second trip to Con- cord to accompany the family as there is an added charge of £20, not itemized. On the tenth of the following October, the widow Lidia and the children were in Concord with all her be- longings including "Mr. Wallingford's personal wardrobe, bed and bedding, kitchen utensils, etc." No mention is made of horses or farming tools of any kind, such as would seem neces- sary in the carrying on of a farm. Prior to March 2, 1748 the Widow Lidia married P. Ebenezer Harris. (8)

(8) Letter to Editor of Athol Transcript, written by J. Q. Adams, Marengo, Illinois - Jan. 26, 1912.

HISTORY OF ATHOL

Some eight months after Wallingford's death, Jason Bab- cock was the target of Indian treachery. Early in the history of the township, about 1740, he acquired the meadow rights of at least two of the original proprietors, and by repeated swapping with the others, secured some sixteen meadow rights north of Millers River and east of Tully River, as well as some adjacent land between the meadows and Silver Lake. This lake for some years bore his name, being known as Jason's or Babcock's Pond. Tradition says he lived alone in his cabin on the east side of the meadows at about No. 90 Pequoig Avenue, and for a time made rapid progress in clearing up the land.

One day in the spring of 1747, Babcock's cows strayed from the clearing into the thick woods on the west side of the meadow. While searching for them he was felled by an Indian bullet. Not being seriously wounded he was taken away into the wilderness instead of being summarily killed, and was eventually a captive in Canada.

Realizing that he was doomed to a long siege of captivity if his life should be spared, he at once begged the privilege of going home for his "fiddle." The prospect of musical enter- tainment pleased his captors, and his violin accompanied him on his long journey. Being quite a musician, he spent much time "fiddling," greatly to the delight of the Red Men who are said to have spared his life on this account.

Just how long this captivity lasted is not definitely known, but about a year later an exchange was effected, and Babcock gained his freedom.

He did not return at once to the scene of his disaster, but rather sought the home of his childhood in Westboro, and there on September 11, 1749 married Mary Beeton of that town. The marriage record shows that he still considered our town his home, for he is described as of "Packquage." Between 1751 and 1756 he had three children born to him in Westboro. From there he enlisted in the English Army in 1755, under Johnson, and was wounded in the battle of Lake George in September of that year. He petitioned the General Court in December, 1755 for some recompense on account of his Canadian captivity and his army service. £4 was granted as an allowance.

In 1758 he returned to Pequoige, and remained here oc- cupying his land until the summer of 1762, when he sold his meadows to Aaron Smith. After selling various other holdings, he removed to the northerly part of Royalston, where he stayed upwards of seven years. The last we know of the family in

FIRST SETTLEMENT

Massachusetts is on August 30, 1769 when his oldest daughter was killed by lightning. Another daughter, Persis, married Josiah Goodale in Fitzwilliam, N. H. on September 13, 1778.

Jason Babcock was a short, wiry man, who after his various misfortunes walked decidedly lame. Possessing much mechan- ical ability, he is variously described as a "Bay joiner," "shop joiner," "house wright," "husbandman," and "wheel maker." Before the outbreak of the Revolution, Babcock had settled in the southwesterly part of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, making linen wheels. There he ended his days on July 2, 1781. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, like many others who had participated in the war with France, Babcock held to his allegiance to King George for which he suffered but little as he took no active part in the war against the colonies. But the stigma of "Tory" followed him the rest of his days.

Alarmed by these Indian depredations, several Pequoig families fled for safety to Fort Massachusetts in the Hoosac Valley within the present city of North Adams. Alas, this sup- posedly impregnable fortress was overwhelmed a few days later, August 20, 1746, by some five hundred French soldiers and two hundred Indians under General DeVeudreuil, who descended from the west. All in the garrison -- twenty-two men, three women, and five children -- were taken prisoners. Most of the Pequoig families were eventually ransomed and returned here, but the John Smeeds, one of the five pioneer families of this town, were taken to Canada. On the second day's march Mrs. Smeed was delivered of a daughter, whom she named "Captivity." Though a litter was made of poles and bear skins on which the mother and child were carried, both died after reaching Canada.

John Smeed was redeemed and with his three younger children arrived in Boston on August 31, 1746. Just seven weeks later he was killed by Indians near the mouth of Millers River. On June 14, 1753 the son, John, presented a petition to the Provincial General Court praying for some consideration on account of the great service that was performed by his father in the war against the Indians. The Court's reimbursement to him for the service was the setting off of two hundred acres of land located near the western boundary line of Paquoag.

It is told of six-year old Mary Smeed that the first night after the capture, when all were asleep that she determined to- find her brothers. Thinking she could recognize them by the feeling of their hair, she quietly arose and stole outside the tent among the sleepers in the open air. After considerable

HISTORY OF ATHOL

search in the darkness, she found two she thought must be her brothers and pressing herself down between them fell asleep. When awakened she was horrified to find that instead of her brothers they were two "most grim and frightful Indians." Little Mary was obliged to travel with the other captives on foot through the wilderness to Quebec. After her eventual release and the death of her father, Mary went to live with the family of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge of Hatfield. There she remained till womanhood when she married Mr. Aaron Willard and re- moved with him to Charlestown, N. H. and subsequently to Hartland, Vt. where she died of cancer on January 3, 1829.

Relationships with the Indians were on the whole hostile, but not all of the tribes were unfriendly. There was here once a happy tribe, the Nipnets, who built their council fires on these plains and gathered the wild grain on these meadows. If one has love for their memory, let him follow along the banks of Tully Brook until about a mile or less from its mouth where is a small green plot of ground encompassed by the divided stream. This was "Huncus' Island." Here lived, here died Huncus, last of the Nipnets.

I remember well some Indian stories told me by my father. It seems that an old Indian by the name of Suntsman, who lived on West Hill, came over to grandfather's place one day with his ox hitched to a drag sled to buy a barrel of cider. One week later he returned to complain that the cider was "too sour, no good." When grandfather suggested that he bring it back, Suntsman replied, "Well, the old squaw and I worried it down - but haven't you any more a little sweeter?"

There is another tale of the Indian who went with some rum and emptied the whole flask into a dish of Indian pudding which his squaw was making. "How did it taste?" asked grand- father. "Well," said the Indian, "I tell you - the old squaw and I think she is hummin' stuff."

European wars continually drew the English Colonies into conflict with the French settlements in Canada. This state of war kept the men of Pequoig in constant turmoil. With all these trials it is little wonder that the day came when these people asked to be relieved of their anxiety, to be allowed abandonment of Pequoig, and given lands in some favored spot. But brighter days came. The legislative body granted them some assistance, and in one instance during 1748 twenty men were garrisoned here by the Bay Colony to protect this frontier.

After the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in October, 1748 a season of peace came to Europe which reflected in the Colo-

FIRST SETTLEMENT

nies. New settlers joined the pioneers here, giving them re- newed courage. By 1750 there were twenty families and five single men residing in the east settlement and six families on the West Hill. Their means of communication was by fording the river just below the point where the waters of Tully River join the larger stream. At high water their primitive ferry was necessary. By 1752, more than seventeen years after the first proprietors had been admitted to draw house lots, twenty-one men of Pequoig received confirmation of their shares.(9) Two years later sixteen other rights were confirmed. (10)

When the rumblings preceding the Seven Years' War came in 1754, these settlements felt themselves comparatively se- cure so that they could not only protect themselves but some ten of their young men joined the army and went away over the western hills to fight for their King.

An understanding of the military history of this community gives a background for the struggle against annihilation which the early settlers faced. Their determination against bitter odds finally put this township on a firm foundation upon which they could build their homes, their church, and their schools.

(9) Province Laws, Vol. XIV, p. 580.

(10) Province Laws, Vol. XV, p. 260.

CHAPTER III MILITARY BACKGROUND TO 1748

10 UNDERSTAND in any sense the military history of the I American Colonies previous to the Revolution one must realize that these colonies were not independent states, but were under the absolute control of the European nations to which they belonged-France, England, and Spain. So when the sovereign nations became involved in war, as was their custom for centuries, the Colonies were forthwith plunged into con- flict and sprang at each other as a part of their patriotic duty.

Long before the history of our town begins, England had succeeded the Dutch in New York City and its vicinity. The claims of Spain were far to the southward, so New England had no direct contact with her, but France, firmly established at Quebec and in Louisiana, had established a chain of fortifica- tions connecting these remote settlements and at times made claims to all the interior of what is now the United States, leaving to England only a comparatively narrow strip adjoining the seaboard. The forts at Oswego, at Buffalo, at Detroit, and at St. Louis were looked upon by the English colonists as an assertion of this claim. Had France been but a little stronger at home in those early days, the American Colonists would have found themselves the subjects of France instead of Eng- land, and our history would have been a radically different one.

The French cultivated the friendship of the Indian much more assiduously than did the English. Into every settlement a French Catholic missionary was sent who taught so effectively both the Catholic interpretation of the Christian religion and allegiance to the King of France that whenever France and her Colonies became involved in war, she immediately had the as- sistance of many Indian tribes. While it is undoubtedly true that France did not openly advocate the many Indian raids and cruelties perpetrated, yet she certainly made no effort to sup- press them. So the sufferings of the exposed settlements of New England and New York through the period of several European wars were actually a part of the campaigns of the French against the English. In effect, peace in Europe meant comparative security for the New England settlements, while warfare in Europe - for France and England were embroiled

MILITARY BACKGROUND TO 1748

in about all these wars - meant pillage, slaughter, and Indian outrages as the portion of all the exposed settlements.

New England as represented by the Royal Governor at Boston made punitive attempts at independent treaties with the Indians, but without marked success. New York was more suc- cessful in these endeavors and succeeded at various times in entering into friendly relations with some of the Indian tribes, much to the alarm of the French. By the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, at least temporary peace was assured, while by the triple alliance of 1717, England and France became allies and several years of comparative tranquility followed.

But the Indian was slow to comprehend such sudden politi- cal somersaults. The French had made enmity against the English settlers a part of his religion, and he continued a spas- modic guerilla warfare, while the far away colonists had limited faith in the permanency of this remarkable alliance and kept vigilant guard over their particular interests, lest one should gain undue advantage over the other. In Europe, rival and con- flicting claims were set up regarding much American territory. New York fortified a trading post at Oswego in 1728, while Quebec endeavored to establish a fort on the east shore of Lake Champlain in 1726 but was deterred by Massachusetts as a claimant of that territory.

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History of Athol, Massachusetts, Part 2

Author: , William G., compiler Publication date: 1953 Publisher: Athol, Mass Number of Pages: 756

Author: , William G., compiler
Publication date: 1953
Publisher: Athol, Mass
Number of Pages: 756