USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume I pt 2 > Part 32
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611
TOWN OF CHESHIRE.
Judge J. M. Barker, in his " Early Settlements in Cheshire," writing - of Colonel Stafford, says :
" Tradition preserves a pleasant account of his introduction of Mrs. Stafford to her new home on the summit of the New Providence Hill. While he was mapping out the purchase and erecting a house on the lots to which he took title, his wife re- mained in Rhode Island. When the new dwelling was ready for occupancy he re- turned for his family. As they journeyed on the good wife sought for an exact de- scription of the new home she was to occupy and its surroundings. But the captain did not see fit to gratify her curiosity; and, as they approached their destination, sought her opinion of the different dwellings and locations which they found on the road. At last Mrs. Stafford found one which delighted her exceedingly, and after the captain had stopped to allow her to examine and admire it, she exclaimed, 'Oh! if I could only live there I would be perfectly satisfied.' Whereupon the captain turned into the enclosure and informed her that they were at home. It was from this home, whence he could see the summits of Greylock range, apparently on a level with him on the west, and the valley of the Hoosac, nestling beneath them on north, with glimpses of the vales in which rose the Housatonic on the south, that Colonel Stafford went with the Berkshire men to the battle of Bennington, where he fought and was wounded. Yet we hope it was from that home that in the golden autumn days of 1801, three months after he had parted with his last acre of land, his neighbors, with their old pastor, whom he had helped bring from Rhode Island, at their head, carried the departed colonel down the slope of the hill, to the peaceful burying ground where his remains now repose.
" At the southernmost foot of the hill, on a gentle eminence around which curves a babbling, crystal watered brook, is that one of the ancient burial places of Cheshire in which sleeps this man, who, according to the inscription on his tomb- stone, a stone almost bowed to the earth, as though it sought to keep closer company with the dust of him whom it commemorates, so that who reads it must perforce kneel, ' fought and bled in his country's cause at the battle of Bennington,' and ' de- scended to the tomb with an unsullied reputation.' In front of him curves a splendid amphitheater of wooded hills, their forest covering almost unbroken, extending from Whitford's rocks on the east to the high pinnacle of quartz which glistens like a jewel in the sun above the present village of Cheshire. Behind him rise the slopes of the hill which he surveyed and helped to clear and settle, great fields of pasturage from which now almost every dwelling has disappeared, but rarely vexed with the plough and trodden but seldom by any feet save those of lowing kine or bleating sheep. A great beech tree on the edge of the bank above the brook shades him from the morning sun, and so sequestered is the spot that at this moment a great golden winged woodpecker has her nest in a decayed portion of the tree, her notes the only sound, but that of the rippling brook, to break the absolute silence of his long home. A peaceful and appropriate resting place for the patriot and the pioneer, but one which might well receive some care from those who are enjoying the fruit of the labors and sacrifices of him and his associates."
Of Nicholas Cook, the leading purchaser, we learn that he was one of the Court of Assistants in the Rhode Island colony from 1752 to 1761, and deputy governor in 1768 and 1769. In 1761 he was chairman of a committee to raise by lottery $6,000 for paving the streets of Providence. Joseph Bennett was one of the six on this committee. Possibly from
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
that contract they earned or saved some of the means for the New Prov- idence purchase. Joseph Bennett was made a freeman of the Rhode Is- land colony in May, 1758, a possible descendant of one Joseph Bennett made high sheriff in May, 1700. He, unlike Cook, became a resident of his purchase, and in the possession of his posterity the old Bennett house still remains, one of the few original houses, a little sonth of the line marking the southern limits of the New Providence purchase. Land now occupied by William P. Bennett was deeded to Elisha Brown, from his father, Elisha Brown, November 30th, 1773. Lease of right of way across said land to Mt. Amos was made in 1789 from Henry Tibbits and others to Joseph Bennett for the term of 500 years.
John Bennett came from Warwick, R. I., in 1780, and settled one mile and a quarter east of Cheshire, where Mrs. Amy Brown now lives. John Bennett, born December 3d, 1761, married Sally Burlinghame, born May 13th, 1759, and had children : Nancy, born April 22d, 1783 ; Polly, born January 8th. 1786; Joseph, born February 8th, 1788; Asa, born May 29th, 1790; Chloe, born October 11th, 1792 ; Andrew, born April 28th, 1795 ; Roby, born March 14th, 1798 ; Amy, born Jannary 1st, 1801.
The foundation and maintenance of a church had much to do in forming the character and moulding the life of subsequent Cheshire, and so its history must be studied. Unlike other towns, New Provi- dence had no portion of government lands set off for church support. What was done here was the gift of the people through love for the cause. This was also their faith, being, for the most part, Baptists. After a few meetings for conference they met, August 28th. 1769, and finding a number of families from Coventry, R. I., forming a majority of the church there, they sent for Elder Peter Werden, their pastor, to come and continue his charge over his flock. He came, the roll call num- bered thirteen, and, like the thirteen States six years later, they were a united body. Their names were : Elder Peter Werden, Joah Stafford, Samuel Low. Joseph Bennett. John Day, John Lee, John Bucklin, Mercy Werden, Almy Low, Unice Bennett, Bety Read, Deliverance Nichols, and Martha Lee. During the year there were received "from distant places " 37 members. In 1772 23 names were added, and so on while the church remained. in all about 500 names. Elder Werden was their pas- tor for nearly 40 years, dying February 21st, 1808. He was supported by donation and the use of 50 acres, the gift of Nicholas Cook and Jo- seph Bennett, the northeast fourth of Lot No. 4 -- a lot still doing duty in gospel support. From this land Elder Werden gained for the most part his subsistence. In the writings of Elder John Leland, beginning' with page 319, is a biographical sketch from which the following is taken:
" Elder Werden was born June 6th, 1728, and ordained to the work of the minis- try at Warwick, R. I., May, 1751. When he first began to preach he was too much of a new light and too strongly attached to the doctrine of salvation by sovereign grace, to be generally received among the old Baptist churches in Rhode Island, until the following event opened the door for him. A criminal by the name of Carter
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TOWN OF CHESHIRE.
was executed at Tower Hill. This occasion collected crowds of people from all parts of the State. While the criminal stood under the gallows, young Werden felt such a concern for his soul that he urged his way through the crowd, and, being as- sisted by the sheriff, gained access to Carter and addressed him as follows; 'Sir, is your soul prepared for that awful eternity into which you will launch in a few min- utes?' The criminal replied, 'I dont know that it is, but I wish you would pray for me.' In this prayer Mr. Werden was so wonderfully assisted in spreading the poor man's case before the throne of God that the whole assembly were awfully solem- nized and most of them wet their cheeks with their tears. This opened a great door for his ministrations, both on the main and on the Island. He preached at Warwick, Coventry, and many other places, and then moved, in 1770, into this place, where he has lived almost thirty-eight years.
"Sound judgment, correct principles, humble demeanor, with solemn sociability marked all his public improvements, and mingled with his conversation in smaller circles, or with individuals. In him young preachers found a father and a friend; distressed churches a healer of breaches; and tempted souls a sympathizing guide. From his first coming into this place until he was 70 years old he was a father to the Baptist churches in Berkshire and its environs, and, in some sense, an apostle to them all. He had an exalted idea of the inalienable rights of conscience, justly apprecia- ted the civil rights of men, and was assiduous to keep his brethren from the chains of ecclesiastical power. His preaching was both sentimental and devotional, and his life corresponded with the precepts which he taught.
"Within about three years three ministers belonging to Cheshire have departed this life, the pious Mason took the lead, the pleasing Covell followed after, and now the arduous Werden, who has been in the ministry a longer term than any Baptist preacher left behind, in New England, in the eightieth year of his age, while Leland remains alone to raise this monument over their tombs."
The inscription on his monument, prepared by himself, is as follows : " Here lies the body of Peter Werden, late pastor of the Church of Christ in Cheshire. He was born June 5th, 1728, converted by the mighty power of God to the Lord Jesus Christ May 9th, 1748. In the month of May, 1751, he was ordained to the work of the ministry in Warwick and continued measurably faithful in his pas- toral charge to the close of his life, which was February 21st, 180S."
On his monument is the following inscription : "HIS SOUL TO GOD HE US'D TO SEND TO CRY FOR GRACE FOR FOE AND FRIEND BUT BLESSED BE THE GOD OF LOVE HIS SOUL IS NOW WITH CHRIST ABOVE THIS CRUMBLING SCULPTURE KEEPS THE CLAY THAT US'D TO HOUSE HIS NOBLE MIND BUT AT THE RESURRECTION DAY A NOBLER BODY HE SHALL FIND."
In the minutes of the Shaftsbury Association for that year is found : "Died February 21st, 1808, Elder Peter Werden, of Cheshire, in the Soth year of his age. For dignity of nature, soundness of judgment, meekness of temper and unwearied labors in the ministry, but few have equaled him in this age. He was the founder, father, and guardian angel of this Association until his age prevented. He followed the ministry about sixty years, and then
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
"Like old Elijah, in a fiery car, He rode to Heaven, to be a shining star; May some Elisha catch his sacred robe, And smiting Jordan cry Where is Elijah's God ?"
He was followed in the ministry by Elder Bartimus Braman, and by Elder Samuel Bloss, under whom the old church building was removed to the glebe land, a new church having been sometime before erected on the hill where was a flourishing and beautiful village, the village of Cheshire. It had, besides the church, its post office and its masonic lodge, called Friendship Lodge, and a noted school whither young men and maidens from adjoining towns went, and where the parents of the present writer first met, some sixty-five years ago.
Nearest to the meeting house on Stafford's Hill dwelt Col. Samuel Low, one of the founders of the place, as well as most prominent and wealthy. In 1763, three years before coming to Stafford's Hill, he was intrusted with the duty of raising money by a lottery to improve the streets of Providence, R. I. Whether he was rich before, history does not state. He came to New Providence with four slaves, parents with two children. In 1790, he moved into the State of New York, having freed the parents, but taking the boy and girl with him. Afterward he applied to the church for a letter, but was refused unless he would free the two slaves. To him Elder Werden writes, March 2d, 1792:
"DEAR BROTHER:
" We received your letter and the brothers hath heard it read. That part that concerns Anthony doth not serve our minds. Our minds is that your duty was to have set him at liberty at the age of twenty-one which was about a year ago. As to the bill of costs that you speak of you and he must settle that yourselves, as we look upon it we have nothing to do in that matter. We wish you, my dear brother, to attend to the proposition you mentioned-all men are born free. Therefore our re- quest and desire is, you liberate him immediately, to ease our sister and us of our pain, as we think it will dishonor our profession if it is not dun."
Some sharp correspondence in return shows that Colonel Low knew well how to handle a pen, as well as as word; but space here is too limited for further quotations.
While Stafford's Hill was growing other parts of the town were re- ceiving occupants, and roads were constructed. The Cheshire village of to-day had but one house till the Hill had become well peopled. From Lenox to East Hoosick along the valley was the main road following the stream. Crossing this from Lanesboro, near the foot of Greylock, was another road forming four corners, now Cheshire. Among the early set- tlers the name of Elisha Brown, from Warwick, stands first, as buying Lot No. 46, second division, north range, October 6th, 1768. Daniel Brown, of Warwick, in the following March, bought Lot No. 45, and be- came the most prominent man and the largest landholder. In April John Tibbetts, of Warwick, bought Lot No. 70. On Lot 63. in Septem- ber. 1771, came, from Scituate, R. L., Abiather Angel, followed, the next
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TOWN OF CHESHIRE.
May, on Lot 52, by Thomas Matteson, of Warwick. James and John Barker, brothers, one from Middletown and the other from Newport, R. I., purchased parts of Nos. 21 and 76 in June, 1773, and Benjamin Ellis, of Warwick, Lot 41. in February, 1774. John Lyon and his son, John, afterward Dr. Lyon, had settled in this section in 1770, from Connecticut, where John jr. was born in 1756, and who in the battle of Bennington, was a Berkshire boy, and whose home for many years was a low gambrel- roofed house under the great elms at the forks of the roads near the crossing of the Kitching Brook, in the south part of the present village.
James Barker, one of the Court of Assistants in Rhode Island, was made a justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Berkshire in 1781 and died in 1796. His home was on the spot just north of Dr. Lyon's, now occupied by the widow of Noble K. Wolcott. He was, from 1791 to 1796, register of deeds for the northern district, and Cheshire's first town clerk in 1793. His son, Ezra, succeeded him as justice of the peace, received the homestead by will, and, a generation later, was known in Cheshire as the "old squire." John, the brother of James, left Cheshire for Ver- mont in 1786 and died on the way. These brothers were descendants of a James Barker, named as one of the grantees of the Rhode Island charter from King Charles II. Good blood flows far.
Samuel Wolcott (from Oliver Wolcott, a signer of the American "Declaration of Independence, and for nine years delegate to Congress, and in 1796 governor of Connecticut) and his son. Samuel jr., were in the capture of Ticonderoga ; from Vermont Samuel jr. came, with Moses, his brother, to Cheshire. Moses was a merchant as well as innholder, and a very successful one. His store became the place of the first post office, established in 1810, with Noble K. Wolcott. clerk. Another son, Russel, was the father of John C. Wolcott. who gave early promise of being one of, if not the most learned and brilliant lawyer of the county ; but a love of stimulants blasted his prospects as well as the expectation of his friends, and at this time he is the last one of his family name re- siding in the town. Moses Wolcott, above named, and Nehemiah Rich- ardson were in the fight, October 19th, 1780, at Stone Arabia. They both fled for their lives from the Indians. The latter, being light and tall. ran easily, outstripping Moses, who was short and thick, and who cried lustily for help, or at least not to be left behind. They escaped. Years afterward, together with Captain Daniel Brown, Deacon John Richard- son, of the Stafford Hill church, Amos Pettibone, and Jerry Bucklin, they occasionally dined at the house of Jonathan Richardson, jr., whose widow, aged ninety, still survives, and who prepared their dinners, and who well remembers the oft told tale of the long and short runners. also the account of the battle of Bennington, in which the four last named took an active part. Their last dinner together was in 1836. She remembers there were some Indian huts, one on their farm ; which farm was bought of ----- Bowen about 1790. by Nehemiah Richard- son, her husband's grandfather, who must have lived elsewhere in the
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
town previously, for in the revival of 1772 his name appears among twenty-two baptized April 4th by Elder Werden. His farm is still known as the Richardson farm.
The next farm south was bought about the same time, of Mrs. Han- nah Cushing, by Edward Martin, from Rhode Island, who, in 1797, built a framed house. He had six children, all becoming farmers, or the wives of farmers. The present Edward Martin is grandson, and his wife is granddaughter of Elder Mason, elsewhere mentioned. One great-grand- son, Luther A., a skillful physician, is now practicing in Worcester county of this State.
Joshua Mason, the son of James, a settler in "The Kitchen," built the tannery, recently burned, just west of the village, on a stream run- ning from Greylock and through the Hopper, a deep dark valley, once darker than now, with a dense growth of hemlock, the bark of which was the magnet that drew the tannery thither.
On the town records is found nothing about the Revolution, because it was before the incorporation, and therefore to be found in the histories of those towns from which Cheshire was formed. As Stafford Hill was really the young Cheshire, though not then christened with that name, credit should be given for valorous deeds, and so it may here be said that Colonel Stafford was in active service. His pay roll for an independent company of volunteers for Bennington had the names of forty-one men from New Providence, Lanesboro, East Hoosick, and Windsor; all credited with six days' services at five shillings and four pence each, August 16th, 1777. July 16th of the same year he went with his com- pany of volunteers from New Providence to reinforce Colonel Warner, at Manchester, by order of General Schuyler. The names of men in this company show they were from New Providence: Colonel Joab Stafford, Captan Shubal Willmarth, Captain Abiathar Angel, Captain Thomas Nichols. Lieutenant Jeremiah Brown, Lieutenant Simon Smith, Lieuten- ant Lewis Walker, Lieutenant William Jenkins, Ezekiel Wilson, Ezekiel Wighes, Aaron Case, Reuben Simmonds, Humphrey Tiffany, Hooker Low, Benoni Collins, John Richardson, John Brown, James Cole, Rufus Spencer, Doctor Tanner, and Lieutenant John Willmarth ; fifty miles travel, gone fifteen days and received for the whole service 18 shillings and 4 pence each. So the people, if not the town of Cheshire, did good service, as further records, though not the town records, show.
Situated far from convenient town centers, it is no wonder that on August 7th. 1792, thirty men subscribed for a fund to pay the charges of a committee to the General Court touching the matter of incorporation, the money to be paid in by the first Monday in September. The peti- tioners from Adams, Lanesboro, New Ashford, and Windsor met in the brick school house in Lanesboro mnot far from the present Baptist meet ing house) on the second Monday of September. A committee was then appointed to meet a General Court committee at Colonel Remington's. It was voted also to raise money to defray the Court Committee's ex-
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TOWN OF CHESHIRE.
penses. On October 22d, with James Barker as clerk, a committee was chosen to examine the outlines and bounds of the town proposed and mark them by such monuments as they thought needful, and that Cap- tain Daniel Brown present the matter to the General Court. November 5th, met as adjourned and voted to have the town incorporated by the name of " Vernum " (possibly Vernon) and that Colonel Remington be authorized to call the town together. In April, 1793, he issued his war- rant to Peleg Green, lately of Lanesboro.
"Berkshire, greeting, Whereas the Great and General Court of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts begun and holden in Boston on the last Wednesday of January, 1793, did incorporate a part of the town of Adams, Lanesboro, New Ash- ford, and Windsor into a township by the name of Cheshire and appointed me to call on the inhabitants qualified to vote in town affairs-all living in New Providence which once belonged to Lanesboro and New Ashford, all east of the top of Saddle Mountain, as far south as Pitts Barker's south line, thence eastward on said line of lots to Muddy Brook, thence all east of said brook as far as to Stephen Whipple, Isaac Horton, Brooks Mason, and Edward Wood, and all northward of Brooks Ma- son's south line, straight to Windsor line, and on Windsor line as far south and east as to include Mr. Fulshaw and Mr. Bruchs and William Whitakers, so from said Bruchs east line to the north line of said Windsor. Hereof fail not to make due re- turn, &c. March :6th.
" April Ist, 1793, met and chose Colonel Jonathan Remington moderator and James Barker clerk.
" JONATHAN RICHARDSON, 2 " DANIEL BROWN, " TIMOTHY MASON,
Selectmen."
To these were added for assessors, Hezekiah Mason and William Jenkins ; Peckham Barker, constable and collector of rates for sixpence on a pound ; Daniel Mason and John Bennett, fence viewers : Benjamin Brown and Jonathan Fish, field drivers : Hezekiah Mason and John Remington, hog reeves : Daniel Brown and Daniel Biddlecom, pound keepers. They chose nine men to divide the town into highway and school districts. In a May meeting they made twelve districts and twelve surveyors. During the year they voted the first time for a gor. ernor, John Hancock having 99 votes and Elbridge Gerry only three. At the next assessors' meeting they voted 18 shillings to James Barker for his services as town clerk the preceding year, and to Peckham Barker . 47 shillings for warning thirty-two people to leave the town. Expense of incorporation £38, 11s., 6d. In the years following nothing note- . worthy appears in the town records till July 11th, 1812, touching war with England. While the State as a whole was opposed to the declara- tion of war, Cheshire had no uncertain sound in her councils and de- cision, as may be seen by the following record:
" The inhabitants of the town of Cheshire in town meeting assembled, Resolve, that the declaration of war against Great Britain and her Dependencies, was dignified and just; and the only measure left for a nation to resort to, that have decreed they will be free. And although we have long been convinced from the hostile, faithless,
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE .COUNTY.
piratical, and savage conduct of that nation which has for years deluged in blood Europe and Asia, that her ambition would know no bounds short of the desolation of this happy country; yet it is left to the present day for her openly to avow, that in her train to ruin. not only the rich and opulent European, the peaceful Indostan, but the patriotic and freeborn American, shall act a conspicuous part. Thanks be to heaven her mad career is ended, and the genius of liberty once more speaks with a voice that gladdens every patriot heart.
" Resolved. That the address of the Senate of this Commonwealth speaks the language of a Hancock, an Adams and a Warren, in those days that tried men's souls; it animates, it cheers, it feeds that flame of liberty which we are proud to say shall never but with death be extinguished, and then it shall be mingled with our last bene- diction to posterity.
" Resolved, that we view that great family of America as friends, and will cor- dially unite with them in the support of our beloved government and constitution; but woe to the tory, whether the tory of the present day or the tory of the Revo- lution; their fatal influence has twice brought us to the brink of ruin. We thank heaven we have escaped, and pledge ourselves that the commiseration of their past misfortunes and disappointments shall never shield their crimes from that justice that has been too long delayed.
" Resolved, That the Washington Benevolent Society, although formed of unauspicious plants, so long as they demean themselves as peaceable citizens, so long they should be under the protection of the laws; but should they be found in the support of a foreign nation, the vengeance of an indignant people shall consume them, and the insignia of the Father of his Country shall be wrested by the eagle of America from such unworthy protectors.
"And we do further resolve, That in conformity with the recommendations of the Senate of this Commonwealth, a Committee of Safety and Vigilance, to consist of nine members, be appointed to watch over the public welfare, to deal with the hand of moderation and forbearance towards those, who, from mistaken motives, may be led to acts which they would abhor, could they but be sensible of their situation; but to those who willfully set the laws and constituted authorities at defiance, by word or deed, let the strong arm of the committee be raised in that manner that shall teach them that as freemen we live and as freemen we will die."
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