USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume I pt 2 > Part 8
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Treasurers: John B. Root, 1811-14: Ebenezer Center, 1815-16; Sam- nel D. Colt, 1817-44: James Buel, 1845-46; Walker Laffin, 1847-49 : Stephen Reed, 1850-57; Henry M. Pierson, 1858-77; Charles E. Merrill, 1878-85.
The following interesting account of the Housatonic Agricultural So- ciety was contributed by Henry C. Warner :
October 30th, 1841, a meeting was held at the Berkshire House in Great Barrington village for the purpose of considering the propriety of organizing an agricultural society which would especially embrace within its bounds the towns of Southern Berkshire. At that meeting Major Samuel Rosseter, of Great Barrington, presided, and a committee of three from each of the eleven towns of South Berkshire was appointed to as- certain the views of the farmers on the subject. On that committee were several prominent men who have long since passed away, among whom were Hon. Increase Sumner and John Lewis, of Great Barrington : Wilber Curtis, of Egremont ; Jay Shears, of Sheffield ; Horatio Byingten, of Stockbridge ; Lester Filley, of Otis ; Captain Kasson, of New Marl- boro : Hugo Dewey, of Alford : Joshua R. Lawton, of Great Barrington. but later of Pittsfield ; and Noah Gibson, of New Marlboro. The propo- sition to organize was received with favor, and a society for the promo- tion of agricultural and manufacturing interests in all its branches was formed in 1841. Major Samuel Rosseter was elected president, Increase Sumner secretary, and Philip Barnes treasurer.
Arrangements were made for a cattle show and fair, and at the time appointed, in September. 1842, the farmers from Otis to Mount Washing- ton, with all the other towns, drove their oxen into the village, and the housewives brought the products of their skill in such quantities that Academy Hall was filled with blankets, quilts, homespun cloth, and stockings. The great success attending the first exhibition gave so much encouragement to the enterprise that the society entered upon a more extended plan for the exhibition of 1843.
At this exhibition a plowing match was a prominent feature, and in all respects the fair was highly successful.
Fairs were held every fall antil 1847 in about the same way. At the exhibition of that year the household manufactures were changed from Academy Hall to the old town hall over Egbert Hollister's Berkshire store, and the cattle were exhibited at different times on Rosseter street. and in Robbins' grove, a little west of Great Barrington village.
With each succeeding exhibition the society increased in wealth and numbers, and having established the right to be considered an indispen-
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sable institution it was incorporated in 1848, under the name of the Housa- tonic Agricultural Society. At a meeting of the corporators named in the act of incorporation, to wit, Seth Norton, Edward P. Woodworth. and Gilbert Munson, all of Great Barrington, at the Berkshire House in that village in that year the following persons were voted in as associate and fellow members of the society : Catlin A. Sheldon, Samuel Rosseter, John D. Cushing, William A. Forbes, E. B. Garfield, George G. Pierce, John M. Hulbert, Charles N. Emerson, Gideon M. Whiting, Loomis Mil- lard, Giles Andrews, Jay Shears, Nelson Joyner, Joshua R. Lawton, Henry Wheeler, Charles F. Coffing, William Dewey, Rodney Hill, Levi K. Baldwin. Nelson N. Andrews, Lorenzo H. Rice, Cyrus Hudson, Almon I. Loring.
On February 17th, 1849, it was voted to give a premium of $10 to the town showing the best twenty yoke of oxen and at the annual exhibition of that year " Major Samuel Rosseter walked proudly behind the plow, while before at least a hundred stalwart oxen were aligned, while his Excellency, Governor George N. Briggs, and magnates marched behind."
In 1850 the society voted to pay all premiums in silver plate. From that year the society has steadily increased in membership and wealth. giving more premiums and systematically dividing the various branches of the exhibition into separate classes, and since the annual meeting of 1884 paying premiums in cash or silver ware, according to the choice of the successful exhibitors.
At the exhibition in 1843 the total premiums awarded amounted to $162 ; while at the exhibition of 1884 $2,800 were paid out for premiums alone, the total expenses of the society for that year being 86. 753.
In March, 1854, two meetings were held at Great Barrington to con- sider the propriety of purchasing grounds for future exhibitions, and in pursuance of votes then taken the society, March 23d, 1854. in consid- eration of $2,525. purchased of Linns Manville, of Great Barrington. 19 acres of land being a portion of the "Cole meadow, " nearly opposite the Mahaiwe Cemetery. in the south part of the village. About the same time the society, in consideration of $450, purchased of Eliphalet Mason, of Great Barrington, 54 rods of land with a tenement thereon, situated at the northwest corner of their grounds. Again, September 18th, 1855. Linus Manville, in consideration of 83,000, conveyed to the society 15 acres situated northerly of and adjoining the first purchase. The same day Manville, in consideration of $50, quit claimed to the society all his right and title to that piece of land called "The Cove," adjoining the original purchases. As the society increased to such an extent that the membership amounted to 1.600 persons, with an attendance at the annual exhibitions of from five to ten thousand, the grounds were found to be inadequate and in March, 1881, the society, in consideration of $413, pur- chased of Samuel O. Dewey, of Great Barrington, over an aere of land adjoining to the original purchases on the south.
In 1856, the building known as " the Hall" was erected, and a half
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mile track laid out that same year. This building, which cost about $2,500, is 124 feet long and 44 feet wide, with galleries and a seating ca- pacity for 3,000 persons.
Previous to 1856 but two days were devoted to the annual exhibi- tions, but in that year the time was extended to three days.
As there are no records of the annual meeting's previous to 1848 it is impossible to give a precise list of officers, but among the presidents the following are remembered : 1842-43, Samuel Rosseter, of Great Barring- ton ; 1844-45, Samuel H. Bushnell, of Sheffield. Then came Foster F. Barnard and Joseph Wilcox, also of Sheffield, with possibly one or two others whose names are forgotten. Since the incorporation the presidents have been : 1848-49, Seth Norton, of New Marlboro; 1850, Joshua R. Lawton: 1851, Gilbert Munson. Great Barrington ; 1852. Robert E. Gal- pin, of Stockbridge ; 1853. William B. Saxton. of Sheffield ; 1854, Ezra Ticknor, of Alford : 1855, Henry Smith, of Lee ; 1856, James Rowley, of Egremont : 1857, Leonard Tuttle, of Sheffield ; 1858, Daniel B. Fenn, of Stockbridge ; 1859, Daniel D. Kendall. of Lenox ; 1860, Daniel Leavitt, of Great Barrington; 1861, William C. Langdon, of Monterey; 1862, Har- rison Garfield, of Lee; 1863, Ira Curtis, of Sheffield ; 1864, Noah Gibson, of New Marlboro ; 1865-66. T. D. Thatcher, of Lee ; 1867, Edward D. Woodworth, of Great Barrington ; 1868-69, Marshal S. Bidwell, of Mon- terey ; 1870-71, Parley A. Russell, of Great Barrington : 1872-73, Thomas H. Curtis, of Great Barrington; 1874-75, James Bullard, of Lee ; 1876, John Leland Miller, of Sheffield ; 1877. Andrew L. Hub- bell, of Great Barrington ; 1878-79, Henry W. Sheldon, of New Marl- boro : 1880-81, Henry S. Smith, of Lee : 1882, Lester T. Osborne, of Alford ; 1883, George Kellogg, of Sheffield ; 1884, Joseph A. Kline, of Egremont ; 1885, Marshal S. Heath, of Stockbridge.
The treasurers have been : 1841, Philip Barnes, of Great Barrington ; 1844, David Hudson, of Great Barrington, and there may have been others of whom there is no record before the society was incorporated : 1848 to 1867, Edward P. Woodworth ; 1867 to 1877, Justin Dewey ; 1877 to 1881, Thomas H. Siggins : 1881 to 1885, Frank H. Wright.
The secretaries like the treasurers have all been residents of Great Barrington. Previous to the incorporation, Increase Sumner, Edward P. Woodworth ; since the incorporation, 1848-49, Charles N. Emerson : 1850, Theodore Dewey ; 1851, Samuel Newman ; 1852. C. N. Emerson : 1853, Increase Summer ; 1854, Samuel B. Sumner ; 1855-57, James Sedg- wick ; 1858-62, S. B. Sumner ; 1863 to the present. Henry T. Robbins.
Delegates to the State Board of Agriculture: 1854. John Wilkinson, of Great Barrington ; 1861-64, Samuel H. Bushnell. of Sheffield ; 1864- 67, Harrison Garfield. of Lee: 1867-70. T. D. Thatcher, of Lee : 1870-73, Richard Goodman, of Lenox ; 1873-76, Henry S. Goodale. of Mount Washington ; 1876-79, Daniel B. Fenn, of Stockbridge ; 1879-85, Merritt I. Wheeler, of Great Barrington.
The Hoosac Valley Agricultural Society was inaugurated in the au-
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tumn of 1859, when, at a meeting of citizens of Adams and the neigh- boring towns, the following officers were chosen: president, Clement Harrison, of North Adams; vice-presidents, Stephen C. Millard, Stam- ford: Asahel Foote, Williamstown; HI. Nelson Dean, South Adams; secretary, O. A. Archer, Blackinton; treasurer, Henry W. Kingsley, North Adams. A committee of arrangements was also elected, and they provided for the first annual cattle show and fair, which was held at North Adams, on the 3d and 4th days of October, 1859. This show and fair was a success, and it was followed in 1860 by the incorporation of the society. Clement Harrison, Edward R. Tinker, and Rodman H. Wells were named in the act as corporators. Annual fairs and exhibi- tions have since been held, and the society has had a prosperous and useful existence.
The grounds and track of the society were located in North Adams. They were several times injured by freshets, and it finally became neces- sary to remove the buildings and construct a new track, which was done at considerable expense. Several years since an exhibition hall, a grand stand, a judges' stand, and a barn were erected on the grounds by an association. These buildings are to become the property of the society at the expiration of ten years.
About eight years since the records of the society were destroyed by fire. The loss of these records renders it impossible to give a detailed history of the society in the early period of its existence. It is learned. however, that the officers have been as follows: presidents, Hon. Joseph White, of Williamstown; Sylvander Johnson, North Adams; Daniel Upton, South Adams; Asahel Foote, Williamstown; Benjamin F. Mills. Williamstown; John M. Cole, Williamstown; O. A. Archer, Blackinton; J. R. Houghton, Stamford, Vt .; William S. Johnson, North Adams; and William L. Brown, North Adams, the present incumbent.
The treasurers have been: Henry W. Kingsley. Salmon Burlingame, Rufus G. Welden, William Burton, and S. B. Dibble, the present treas. urer, all of North Adams.
William W. Gallup, of North Adams, was secretary during the first nine years of the society's existence, since which H. Clay Bliss has occu- pied the position.
CHAPTER XXI.
RAILROAD HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
BY HERBERT F. KEITH, C. E.
Early Railroad and Canal Projects .- Hudson & Berkshire Railroad. - Pittsfield & West Stock- bridge Railroad .- Albany & West Stockbridge Railroad .- Massachusetts Railroad .- Western Railroad .- Pittsfield & North Adams Railroad .- Hoosac Rail and MeAdamized Road Company .- Berkshire & New York Railroad Company .- Berkshire Railroad .- Stockbridge & Pittsfield Railroad .- Lee & New Haven Railroad .- Troy & Greenfield Railroad .- Hoosac Tunnel .- Boston & Poughkeepsie Railroad.
T HE first suggestion of a railway in Massachusetts, and through Berkshire county to Albany, is believed to have been made by Dr. Abner Phelps, a native of Belchertown, and a graduate of Williams Col- lege, in 1806. He says, while at college, he met with a small book de- scribing a horse railroad in Wales, for carrying slate, and became con- vinced of its feasibility for the general purposes of transportation.
In 1808, Colonel Phelps, his father, was a prominent member of the Legislature. While there he wrote a letter to his son, saying that the subject of constructing a canal from Boston to Albany had been mooted in the Legislature. The son answered, urging that a railroad, instead of a canal, should be constructed. For nearly twenty years thereafter he tried to induce some member of the Legislature to propose the construc- tion of a railroad from Boston to Albany, without success : till, in 1826, when he was a member from Boston, he brought the subject forward himself.
The previous year, at the opening of the January session of the Leg- islature, Governor Eustis called attention to a water communication from Boston to and through the western parts of the State. In pursuance of this recommendation a resolve was passed, February 25th, 1825, author- izing the appointment of three commissioners to ascertain the practica. bility of making a canal from Boston Harbor to Connecticut River, "and of extending the same to some point on the Hudson River in the vicinity of the junction of the Erie Canal with that river." Under this resolve Nathan Willis, of Pittsfield, Elisha Hoyt, of Deerfield, and General Henry
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A. S. Dearborn, of Boston, were appointed commissioners, and Colonel Baldwin, engineer. The report of this committee was made to the Legis- lature January Ist. 1826, and recommended a canal through the north part of Worcester county. down Miller's River, np the Deerfield, and through the Hoosac Mountain by a tunnel, thence to Troy. The tunnel, 133 by 20 feet, and four miles long, was estimated to cost $920, 832.
Berkshire furnished to the cause of railroads zealous. able, and in- fluential champions. Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, of Stockbridge, who early informed himself thoroughly upon all that was then known of railroads, published a long series of articles in their advocacy in the Berkshire Star and Pittsfield Sun, and afterward in a pamphlet. In the first of the series, in the Sun of May 4th, 1826, he introduced a long letter from John L. Sullivan, of New York, who proposed the construction of a single rail elevated railroad (invented by Colonel Henry Sargent. of Boston) from Pittsfield to New York, an estimated distance of 142 miles, at a cost of 81,078,206, and advocated steam in its use : in which he was in advance of the Massachusetts Board of Commissions. This proposition seems not to have attracted general at- tention, and Mr. Sedgwick was too cautious to positively commend it.
Stockbridge has the honor of being the first town in the county to move in favor of the introduction of railroads ; others of its citizens besides Mr. Sedgwick becoming deeply interested in the subject. In the Legislature of 1826 a petition, originating in Stockbridge, and signed by James Whiton, of Lee, and others, was presented, asking for the incorporation of a railroad from Berkshire to Boston, taking the western terminus of the Housatonic Turnpike for its western be- ginning, and passing through Stockbridge, Springfield, and Worcester. During the summer and fall Richard P. Morgan, of Stockbridge, made a survey from the Connecticut to the Hudson, which he presented to a meeting held on the 21st of September. The line he proposed ran from Springfield up the Westfield and Little Westfield Rivers to East Otis : thence through Lee, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge. The meeting thanked Mr. Morgan for his spirited and patriotic efforts in making the survey, and instructed their representative, Samuel Jones, to communicate the information contained in it to the Legislature, and urge the most efficient measures for the necessary surveys and estimates ; that the people might be enabled to judge of the expediency and practicability of a railroad from Albany to Boston.
At the June session of 1826, on motion of Dr. Abner Phelps, Messrs. Phelps and George W. Adams, of Boston, and Emory Washburn. of Worcester, were appointed a committee on the part of the House (the Senate not concurring) to sit during the recess, and consider the prac- ticability and expedieney of constructing a railway from Boston on the most eligible route, to the western line of the county of Berkshire, and to the Hudson River. Dr. Phelps, the earliest advocate of railroads, was. from that time, ardently devoted to the object. The committee sent cir-
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
cnlars throughout the State, asking for information upon various subjects bearing upon the proposed enterprise. In answer to this circular Great Barrington, as did doubtless many other towns, voted, December 13th 1827 :
"Art. 10, to choose a committee of five to make such inquiries and collect such facts as they deem important in relation to a railroad from Boston to the Hudson River, and make such report thereof, in such manner as they think proper, to Abner Phelps and others, a committee at Boston, and chose Lanson Nash, Ralph Taylor, John Whiting, David Leavenworth, and Isaac L. Van Deusen to be said com- mittee."
This committee reported, January 19th, 1827, that they were unani- mous in the opinion that it was practicable to construct a railway from Boston to the Hudson River, and that a railway would be far more useful to the public than a canal. As to the designation of the " most eligible route," it does not devolve upon them ; but they say " upon one route at least, a survey had been made from the Connecticut River to the Hudson by an intelligent and enterprising citizen of Berkshire (Mr. Morgan), and by him had been pronounced not only practicable but highly expedient.
During 1827 the railroad agitation continued to increase in Berkshire and the adjoining counties in New York. On the 25th of January a numerously attended meeting was held at Canaan, and the enthusiasm ran so high that, had a corporation been authorized, all the stock for a railroad from the Hudson to West Stockbridge would have been taken. A large meeting at Lee, April 30th, adopted a strong memorial in favor of a road from Boston to the Hudson. November 16th a county railroad convention was held at Lenox. It was addressed by Henry Hubbard, of Pittsfield, Richard P. Morgan, of Stockbridge, and by Theodore Sedg- wick. Messrs. Sedgwick and Hubbard, with William Porter, of Lee, were appointed to report resolutions to an adjourned meeting at Pitts- field, December 12th. The attendance at this meeting was large and respectable ; Pittsfield, Stockbridge, Lenox, Lee, West Stockbridge, Dal- ton, Lanesboro, and Adams being represented. The resolutions reported by the committee were adopted, expressing, in the strongest terms, a sense of the value of the projected road, and of its special importance to Berkshire ; a decided approbation of the measures of the Legislature in its behalf, and an approval of such further appropriations as might be necessary.
At the June session of the Legislature, in 1827, upon the petition of James Whiton and others, of Berkshire, and Josiah Quincy and others, of Boston, resolves were passed appointing two commissioners and an engineer to canse the necessary surveys, plans, and estimates for a rail- way, on the best practical route from Boston to the Hudson River, and $10,000 were appropriated for the purpose. Nahum Mitchell, of Boston. and Samuel M. Mckay, of Pittsfield, were appointed commissioners, and James F. Baldwin, engineer. They made explorations through two en- tire routes, the southern over the present line of the Boston & AAlbany
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and the northern through Williamstown, Adams, Cummington, Goshen, and Williamsburg to Northampton, and made several lateral surveys ; among them one from Chester through Becket and Stockbridge to the State line at West Stockbridge. Instrumental surveys, however, were only made upon the route from Springfield through Pittsfield to Albany, the extreme southern route being left to what Mr. Morgan's report could do for it. Their report to the Legislature was sent to the committee on roads and railways, who reported, March 11th, 1828, in favor of a board of nine directors of internal improvements, with power to appoint two engineers. These commissioners were Levi Lincoln, Nathan Hale, Stephen White, David Henshaw, Thomas W. Ward, Royal Makepeace. George Bond, William Foster, and E. H. Robbins, jr .; and they ap- pointed James F. Baldwin, engineer.
" The evident favor shown to the route through Pittsfield led Mr. Sedgwick and other gentlemen interested in a more southern location to aid in the change from a board of special commissioners upon the Boston and Hudson River Railway. to one of nine directors of Internal Improve- ments " for the commonwealth. About this time Ebenezer Baldwin, of Albany, Oliver Wiswell, of Hudson, and George Tibbits, of Troy, were appointed commissioners on the part of New York, and William C. Young, engineer.
The surveys and explorations by the commissioners of both States were in progress in almost every part of the territory between Boston and the Hudson River during 1828, and attracted general attention. Three general routes were under consideration ; the first upon the present route of the Boston & Albany, with a branch survey from Dalton. through Cheshire to Adams ; the second, through Northampton, Williamsburg. Conway, southerly part of Ashfield, northerly part of Plainfield, Savoy. Adams, and Williamstown, and a branch along Deerfield River to the mouth of Cold River thence up said river to Savoy ; and the third, from the State line at West Stockbridge through West Stockbridge village, Stockbridge, Lee, Lenox, along the valley of the Housatonic to a junetion with the first at Dalton, with a branch from Lee past Greenwater Pond to the height of land in Becket, and a connection with the " main line at some point on the Westfield River," was examined and a portion sur- veyed. Notwithstanding repeated and powerful arguments by commis- sioners and the executive, the Legislature took no measures to engage the commonwealth in the construction of the road to Albany. " Pitts- field was, perhaps, favored by the delay, as she was better able to thwart the local attempts to turn away the road from the route which successive boards of commissioners and engineers, had, with remarkable unanimity, pronounced the most feasible."
The inaction of the Legislature intensified, instead of calming, rail- road agitation in Berkshire ; both sections of the county being earnestly in favor of the road, and each ambitious to secure its location within its
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own limits. A meeting at Great Barrington, in January, 1828, put the argument thus :
" Resolved * * That such railroad, as particularly connected with the middle and southern sections of the county of Berkshire, ought to pass through the towns of Lee, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Egremont, to- wards the city of Hudson; such location being best calculated to accommodate the transportation of the great mass of agricultural products of those sections, and par- ticularly the heavy article of marble, from the extensive quarries in West Storkbridge, Great Barrington and Sheffield, &c."
As the resources of the two sections were then developed the South had a great advantage. But while northern and southern Berkshire dis- puted regarding the Boston & Albany Road, there was a proposition for a short and easily constructed road from West Stockbridge to Hudson in which they could all agree. The first action in favor of this route was taken by a meeting at West Stockbridge, January 31st, 1828: the citizens of Hudson having just before sent delegates to the Berkshire towns prin- cipally interested. This meeting was fully attended by leading citizens of Berkshire and Columbia counties, who resolved to present a joint peti- tion to the Legislatures of New York and Massachusetts for the incor- . poration of a railroad from Hudson to West Stockbridge, and-there dividing-through Richmond to Pittsfield and through Stockbridge and Lee to Lenox Furnace. On the 12th of February the Pittsfield delega- tion to the West Stockbridge convention reported to a meeting of their constituents; which strongly approved the action taken, and appointed the following committee of vigilance and correspondence: Joseph Merrick, Henry Hubbard, Butler Goodrich, Jonathan Allen, Dr. William Coleman, Jonathan Yale Clark, Thomas A. Gold, Jonathan Allen, 2d. S. D. Colt. Hosea Merrill, jr., M. R. Lanckton, Ephraim F. Goodrich, E. R. Colt. E. M. Bissell, C. T. Fenn, David Campbell, jr., Lemuel Pomeroy, and Jirah Stearns.
The charter for the Hudson & Berkshire Road, with a capital of $500,000, was granted by the New York Legislature, May 1st, 1828. In the Massachusetts Legislature, after two postponements, it was refused. in January, 1829, as well as that for the road from Boston to Albany.
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