USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 13
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Nathan Torry, in the Indian war from 1754 to 1763, was among the earliest settlers in town and first settled on Maple street, afterward on lot 66. Tradition gives the reason of his coming : He was a teacher, and to frighten his pupils into obedience. had a kind of gallows constructed in the school room. One day, while at dinner, one of his pupils, playing execution, was unfortunately hung by the neck till he was dead. Mr. Torry immediately fled hither and kept his own secret. He was a very observant man and had quiet wit. Parson Jennings, of Dalton, asked his opinion of the new meeting house in Palton.
" Tall house, no steeple.
Blind guide and ignorant people.
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was the impromptu answer. It was his little son who. seeing the large : house in Dalton called the "Castle," asked his father, " Is that heaven ?"' He is said to have been the first person buried in the town of Hinsdale.
Another family, numerous and worthy, is the Cady family. Eleazer Cady, from Connecticut, early came to Hinsdale. He had ten children, Chester, Elias, Eleazer, Dan, Curtis, Harry. John. Mary, Olive, and Betsey.
Chester settled in Hinsdale. Of his eleven children, Alvah, Eleazer, John. and Esther all settled in the north part of the town, and Harvey in Windsor. He is now living there.
John lived in Hinsdale, was town clerk, postmaster, and for many a deacon in the Baptist church, and died, an old man and honored, in 1883.
Dan had several children, one of whom, Dr. Frank Cady. was a widely known and successful physician and surgeon.
Alcoh died in 1879, leaving a widow, son, and daughter.
Eleaser left a widow, son, and daughter. in 1881 : Edward, the son, is a successful farmer on the homestead, a young man of quiet but de- cided character, useful and esteemed.
John, son of Alvah, resides in the south part of the town : Esther in Pern
Olire, daughter of Eleazer the first, married a Clark, whose son, Wil- liam, is a retired farmer, living on the Flat, and her sister, Betsey, mar- ried a Barrett, and bore to him sons and daughters.
The Raymond family is also another large family, of which many residents in town are descendants. Little Amos, father of the present Amos, weighed less than 100 pounds. He married a daughter of Elder Jackson. She weighed two and one half or three times as much as her husband. Their one horse wagon was a two.seated affair for prudential reasons. "Tis said that, falling from a load of hay once and spraining his ankle, she took him under her arm and carried him into the house. A like accident afterward happening to her. he called in the aid of the horse and the stone boat.
Another somewhat noted character was Ichabod Emmons, who was an early settler, quite a politician, and sometimes a member of the Leg- islature, where he was noted as much for his eccentricities as perhaps for anything. He married Midwell March, who bore him five children ; Munroe, Noadiah, Eliza, Laura, and Emily, nearly all of whom married. lived, and died in Hinsdale. The two sons were for a long time mer- chants, and Munroe was for many years postmaster. Noadiah. called " Diah," died at his home, a fine farm residence. opposite where was built the first meeting house, the one now moved to its location near the academy.
Francis E. Warren, the present governor of Wyoming Territory, is a native of Hinsdale. He early went West. became a successful business man, known and honored with the confidence of the people of the
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territory. Him the president appointed governor to the great satis- faction of the people of the territory. His mother's maiden name was Abbott.
The interest Hinsdale has always taken in educational matters may be inferred from the number of young men sent to college, and profes- sional men with such an education as the public and private schools could furnish as a base.
In April, 1813. the Hinsdale Academy was incorporated, with Henry Putnam. Charles K. Tracy. Henry Merriman, Charles J. Kittredge and associates, as a stock company, with real estate not to exceed $15,000. nor personal to exceed 85,000. exclusive of books and apparatus used for educational purposes. Since then the town has become sole owner. making a high school in the lower, and a town hall in the upper story.
The Public Library, in a beautiful stone edifice called Library Hall. is a useful appendage to the schools of the town. and a lasting honor to the prime mover and family. Mrs. Mary P. Twining. daughter of Hon. Charles H. Plunkett, and wife of Rev. Kinsley Twining, dying at the early age of twenty-nine, had already planned to make good use of her talents and means. She gave by will $3,000 as the original endowment of the library. Since then, through the far seeing generosity of the Plunkett family, more than $20,000 have been added : and now, with a fine build- ing, and more than 4.000 volumes of well selected reading matter therein. the free library, under care of the town, is quietly spreading its benefi- cent influences in all directions.
Hop. Charles H. Plunkett was the second son of Patrick Plunkett. who came to Lenox from Wicklow county, Ireland, in 1795. when twenty- nine years old. Afterward, in New York, he first met Mary Robinson. of Montroth, Ireland. They were married in the old John Street Method- ist Church, and then came to Lenox. bought a twenty-acre farm. a mile south of the present village, with a log house, in which Charles H. was born, September 16th. 1801, of a mother of remarkably fine mind. and possessing great and strong traits of character ; a religions woman, whose children all speak of her as largely instrumental in moulding their char- acters. Mr. Plunkett's large inheritance from his father consisted of an example of economy, industry, and honesty. Crippled by a fever sore. his early school days were less than sufficient, but his character devel- oped, and his energy, with the help of crutches, seated him on a pedlar's cart at the age of eighteen. His gains were health, money, and business skill, with which. in 1825. he became a partner in Durant & Co.'s store in Hinsdale. For five years he was in trade : then, in 1831. he bought for himself the water privilege of Captain Merriman, and built the woolen mill-the first frame raised in town without lignor-and took into his company his brother. Thomas F .. of Pittsfield, and Mr. Durant. In that mill, with unflagging industry and personal attention to every depart- ment, he made money, so that in 1851 he began to build the Lower Val-
.
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ley Mill, taking in as a partner his brother-in-law, Charles J. Kittredge. The same persevering energy brought means to buy, in 185. the Aaron Sawyer tannery. where he built the middle mill to establish in business his son, Henry, under the name of C. H. Plunkett & Son. After his death the business was incorporated as the Plunkett Woolen Company, in 1861. At the time of his death, in 1800, his factories furnished em- ployment to some 250 hands. He never met with reverses in his business. He had but one business, and his motto was: " This one thing I do." Of five children only one. George T. Plunkett, is now living, owner and manager of the factory. His funeral discourse was read by Dr. Todd, September 27th, 1860. in which he said : "During the thirty-five years he has been in this town he has risen in business, in character, and in in. fluence till he, who began life a poor, lame, and diseased boy, became one of the most remarkable men Berkshire has ever raised."
That he excelle l in judgment appears from the testimony of a dis- tingnished lawyer, who said : " that he would as soon have his judg- ment on an important law case, as that of a judge on the bench of the Supreme Court, " and that judgment would be equally good in business matters to which he gave his constant attention. He had right moral principle, abetted by a strong will. Dealing with thousands, he was never accused of inexactness or injustice. He was more than moral : he was religious. January 6th. 1828, old enough to know his heart and its motives, he joined the church in Hinsdale: and nothing was ever charged to han as inconsistent with his profession. After the funeral exercises. the members of the Berkshire Manufacturers' Association met in the town hall and passed resolutions, some of which read as fol- lows: "The Commonwealth that he served well has lost one of her trnest sons : his native county is sensible of its great loss : the town in which he spent his active life mourns : the large business community of which he was preeminently the protector, friend, and guide. is bewilder- ed with the sudden stroke : his stricken family. alas ! may they have a stronger than human arm for their support in this dark honr. He was one of the originators of this Associaton, and one of its presidents-one of its gniding counselors. In his own line of business his opinions were positive authority, and for wisdom in human affairs, generally, we do not often meet his peer."
So much may be said of Mr. Plunkett. not simply because he de- serves it, but as a model to every young man seeking an honest fortune and an honorable character.
CHAPTER VI.
TOWN OF LANESBOROUGH.
BY REVS. JOSEPH HOOPER AND CHARLES J. PALMER.
Geographical and Descriptive. - Settlement and Early History .- The Revolution .- Growth of Town .- Prominent Citizens .- Congregational Church .- St. Luke's Baptist Church .- Methodist Church .- Schools .- Industries .- Societies.
L ANESBOROUGH is in the northern part of the county, 157 miles from Boston by railroad, and five by carriage road from Pittsfield. the county seat. It has for its northern boundary New Ashford, for its southern Pittsfield, while on the west the line separating it from Han- cock is along the ridge of the Taconics, and on the east an irregular line divides it from Cheshire and Dalton. Its length is six miles, and its breadth varies from six to three miles, a large portion of its original area having been ceded to Cheshire when that town was incorporated, in 1793. The location of the town in the upper portion of the Housatonic valley. comprising within its limits wooded heights, fruitful hillsides, and rich valleys, makes it one of the most beautiful towns in the county. The west branch of the Housatonic passes through to the central portion of the town. runs into Pontoosne Lake, and thence to Long Island Sound. The southern branch of the Hoosac rises in the southeast corner of the town, and running northerly finally flows into the Hudson.
Pontoosue Lake is partly in Lanesborough and partly in Pittsfield. On the old plat of the town it is called Shown keek-moon keek. It was afterward known as Lanesborough Pond.
During the summer a small steam catamaran plies upon its waters. and fishermen find in abundance perch, pickerel, bass, and other fish. at all seasons of the year.
Constitution and Farnum Hills, and Potter and Savage Mountains afford views unsurpassed in beauty and extent. Balanced Rock, in the western part of the town. is a huge, triangular mass of Berkshire marble. grown gray by exposure, thirty feet long and fifteen wide, so poised upon another rock, three feet from the ground. that while it can be made to vibrate it cannot be dislodged. It has been the cause of many
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TOWN OF LANESBOROUGH.
conjectures and legends concerning its origin. A cave in the western part of the town, ten feet wide by fifteen rods in length, is an attraction to many curious explorers.
The soil of the town is a mixture of clay and loam, especially favor- able for grazing. There are 97 farms, and 1,370 acres of woodland in the town.
The principal village is on the main stage mail route from Pittsfield to Williamstown. A post office was established in 1801. The present postmaster is Mr. Charles L. Wood. Two miles to the east is the hamlet of Berkshire.
The chief mineral deposits are marble and iron ore. The geological formation is that of the whole upper portion of the county.
There were few settlements in Berkshire when seventy-six inhabi. tants of Framingham, Sussex county, petitioned the Great and General Court. at its session in Boston in the winter of 1741-2, for the grant of a township of wilderness land. They remind the court that many had re- ceived this favour, and recall the fact that they had been petitioners in 1714 for a tract between Marlborough, Sutton, Mendon, and Framing- ham ; that at their expense a committee had viewed and surveyed it, and a favorable report been returned to their petition ; and yet the grant had been made to their neighbors, "which hath been much to their profit although to our loss." # They describe the land they wished as " lying upon Osatunock alias Houseatanuck river near to an Indian town, north - wardly from said town."
Among the signers of the petition were Samuel Jackson, Jonathan Barnett. Moses Learnerd, Benjamin Nourse. jr., Francis Moquet, Colonel Joseph Buckminster, Deacon Moses Pike. David Pratt. John Nourse. jr .. Daniel How, Alex. Drury, Hezekiah Rice, Jeremiah Belknap, Josiah Drury, Joseph Nichols, Rev. John Smith, John White, Caleb Bridges, Jon. Bruer. Some of the names are those of prominent citizens of Fra- mingham.
The General Court received graciously such petitions, as it was nec- essary to fill the western frontier with Massachusetts freemen if Massa- chusetts maintained her western boundary at twenty miles from the Hudson River, and settlers from New York under the Westenhook Pat- ent, granted by Lord Cornbury, governor of New York, in 1705, were troubling the emigrants under the Massachusetts government.
The petition was approved January 8th, 1742, and an order granting . its prayer was made which provided that the petitioners be impowere ! and " allowed by a surveyor and chain man on oath to survey and lay out a township of the contents of six miles squair, adjoining on the north on the Indian town, so called lying on Housatanuc, or as near that place as the land will allow (not interfering on any former grant) and that they return a Plat thereof to this Court within twelve months for Confirmation, and for the more efectual bringing forward the statement
MS. copy in " New Framingham, Proprietors Book."
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
of the said town, ordered that there be seventy-nine equal shares, the home lots to be laid in a suitable and defensible manner, one of the -d. shares to be for the first settled minister, one for the ministry and one for the school. That there be sixty families settled on sixty of the other shares, or home lots, in three years from the Confirmation of the Plan, who shall each have an house built thereon of eighteen feet square at the least, and seven feet stud, and six acres of land. part thereof plowed or brought to Beglich conse and fenced, and build and finish a convenient meet- ing house for the Public Worship of God, and settle a learned. Or- thodos minister."" For the performance of these matters they were to give bonds to the province treasurer in the sum of 995. It was then " Sent up for concurrence, J. Hubson, Sp'k'r" and " In council. Janu- ary 13th. 1741-2, read and concurred, J. Willard. Sec'ry, coneented to, W. Shirley." The proprietors lost no time in securing their grant, for on January 25th, 1741-2, Caleb Bridges, Amos Gaits, and Henry Emms, as a committee for the proprietors, summoned a meeting at Mr. Moquet's, February 1st. 1741-2, at which meeting Colonel Buckminster, Lieutenant Hezekiah Rice, and Mr. Moses Pike were chosen a committee to find and lay out said new township. Mr. David Ingersoll. of Sheffield, was ad- mitted a proprietor, provided he bore equal share with the others in de- fraving expenses, and " he serviceable to and assisting of the committee in finding and laying out the town." Colonel Buckminster acted as mod- erator, and Moses Pike was chosen proprietors' clerk. The minutes of the meetings until the final settlement of the town are in Mr. Pike's handwriting, and are models of neatness and accuracy. Colonel Buck- minster seems to have been the one through whose influence a favorable answer was made to the petition, and special privileges were granted to him by the other proprietors. The committee set out upon their long journey, laid ont their town, and returned to Framingham, where. on September 6th, 1742. they made this report to their co-proprietors con- cerning the boundaries of the town :
" The northerly and southerly lines running parallel with each other, west 20 degrees north, six miles and a half, and the easterly and westerly lines running par- allel with each other north 33 degrees east, (nearest) one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five rods, the quantity of the northwest and southeast angle being 10 ; degrees and the northeast and southwest angles consequently 77 degrees each. Bounded southerly on a new township commonly called Windals Town, alias Stod- ard and Liviston's Town,t northerly, easterly and westerly by wilderness and unap. propriated and province land."
By the 19th of October a plat of the " Home Lots" had been made a copy of which is found in the Proprietor's Book. The main road as there laid down does not vary greatly from that of to-day. The sheet of water now called Pontoosne Lake is given its Indian name. Shoonkeck- moonkeck The site of the meeting house and the lot for the ministry are
"MS. Order. .. New Framingham Proprietors Book."
+ See History of the Town of Pitt-tiebl, Vol. L., pp. 62 6s.
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TOWN OF LANESBOROUGH.
near the present Congregational church. The claim of the Indians to the land, if any there might be, was ordered to be paid at as reasonable rate as possible. There is no record of any payment being made. and it is presnmable that no Indian title was asserted. as Northern Berkshire was not a place of Indian settlement, but a Mohegan meeting ground. As there could not be any name given to the town until the meeting of the General Court in the winter of 1742-3, the following note in the Pro- prioter's book is of interest:
"Note-that for Distinction's sake the forementioned new Township is vulgarly called Richfield to supply the want of one, until the same shall be named by his Excellency the Governor and Council.
"MOSES PIKE, Propr's Clerk."
The expense to each proprietor to this time had been 43, but whether in pounds Sterling or New England currency is not apparent. Mr. Henry Emms was at the time the treasurer.
March 3d. 1742-3, an order of the General Court was passed author- izing Colonel Joseph Buckminster to call the first meeting of the Pro- prietors. This was approved March 2d, by the Council, and the gov- ernor gave his consent the same day. This meeting was held April 24th, 1744, and another in September of the same year. The disturb- aneo on the boyder, occasioned by King George's war, which lasted font years, and was terminated by the Peace of Aix la Chappelle. October 18th, 1748, interfered with the plans for settling the township. There seems to have been no meeting of the proprietors until April 17th, 1750. when the treasurer made a report that he had received 4230, and dis- bursed 9227. 7s. 6d .. and 024. 5s. Sd .. were assessed upon the proprie- tors for debts. This was not an encouraging outlook, but in the fall another meeting was held, when it was determined that "if six or more men should go to the new township this Fall and work on their lots they should have as a reward therefor, allowed them by the propriety. Two shillings and eight pence per week to each man for each week that he should work upon his respective lot, provided he doth not sell his lot until the duty is fulfilled that is received by the General Court." The offer was not taken, for on the 15th of April. 1752, the proprietors author- ized a list of premiums for settlers, by which the first inhabitant would receive eight pounds, the second seven, the third six. the fourth five. the fifth four, and the three succeeding ones three pounds each. Previous to November. 1753, a settlement had been commenced. for at a meeting of the proprietors on the sixth of that month Moses Brower received eight pounds as the first settler. At the same time, or soon afterward. Captain Samuel Martin, Mr. Steales. Nathaniel Willcocks, and probably others whose names have not been preserved, became residents of the new town. No proprietors' minutes were kept from November, 1753. to May, 1759.
Nathaniel Willcocks came from Connectient (" down country" they called it) about 1753, to Lanesborough, moving his family and goods with
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
an ox team. Pittsfield was a forest and swamp, and he was obliged to fell trees to get through, taking a number of days. He settled in Lanesborough owning the farm now occupied by William Bradley and the one north of it. He became surety for a friend, and in conse- quence was obliged to part with some of his land, so that part was bought by Mr. Bradley's grandfather or great-grandfather. Nathaniel had ser- eral children, but as they grew up they scattered to different parts of the country. There were three sous, Josiah, Abner, and Jesse, the first be- ing twelve years of age when the family moved " up country " from Con- nectient. Josiah lived on the farm till he was eighty-eight. and died there of a cancer on his lip. The farm he never owned, as it was deeded to his only son, Seymour, when he was one day old, by his grandfather, Nathaniel. The farm was kept in the family for over 100 years. Now it has passed into other hands. The name was spelled by Nathaniel, Willcocks, Josiah wrote it Willcox, and Seymour wrote it Wilco.c. Seymour died at the age of seventy three. in 1865, hav- ing always lived in Lanesborough. His oldest son, Josiah S., died in 1876, aged fifty-eight .*
During these trying days the little settlement maintained its ground, roads were made, houses built, a fort erected opposite the present home of Sidney Hubbell. Eso .. and the busy inhabitants were making the wiider- ness a pleasant dwelling place, and were ready to serve in the garrison at Poontoosuck when necessary, or to defend their families with musket at home. In 1750 the conquest of Canada had made peace for the colonies certain, no more Indian attacks were to be expected. and new Framing- ham, for the name Richfield does not appear in any document of the period, began to attract settlers. Early in that year Nathaniel Williams, Samuel Tyrell, John. Ephraim. Elijah, and Miles Powel. Andrew Squier, James Loomis, Ambrose Hall, Isaac Hill, and Charles Gop trich had taken lots and begun to build. The first meeting of the proprietors in the township is thus recorded : " Being met in said new Township at the Fort on the 2d day of May, 1759. adjourned to the 23d. Isaac Hill was chosen moderator, and Samuel Martin the proprietors' clerk, and Isaac Hill the proprietors' Treasurer."
At a meeting held July 10th, 1759, seven pounds were votel to Sim- uel Martin as the second settler, and Colonel William Williams, of Pitts- field (then Poontoosuck ), Charles Goodrich, and Samuel Martin were ap- pointed a committee to dispose of the non-settlers' lots at public vendue, if their assessment of 20 pounds was not paid by September 1st. In October a committee, consisting of David Bush, Daniel Hubbard, and Joseph Wright, of Poontoosnek, was appointed to lay out private roads through the lots on the east side of the river. and cross roads.
The anxiety to have regular Sunday services is shown in the resolu- tion passed at this same meeting. "That the Rev. Messrs. Bellamy and
* Mrs. John M. Cole, of Williamstown. its kindly furnished these particulars concern- ing her ancestry. The Willcox family has been always highly estemed in the town.
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Brinsmade be desired to assist the moderator in procuring some suitable person or persons to preach in this place for the Sabbaths."
The fort mentioned in the entry of May 2d had been built by private enterprise, and no record of its builders' names now remains. It was de. termined in August. 1760. that the bonds and notes of non-residents should be equally divided among the builders of the fort and for the sup- port of preaching.
In December, 1760. the first action concerning the building of a school is entered, when Ephraim Powel, Joseph Keeler, and Moses Hall were appointed a committee for that purpose.
As gathered from the records and other reliable sources the follow- ing were among the settlers previous to 1761 when the common lands were divided and many others purchased homes in New Framingham : William Bradley, James Goodrich, Thaddeus Curtis, Eben Squier, Ben- jamin and Joseph Farnum, Peter B. Curtis, Samuel Dorwin, Nehemiah Bull, Samuel Warren, Moses Hale, Joseph Keeler, Beriah Dudley. The descendants of many of these families still live on the farms then pur. chased. Some of them came from the valley of the Housatonic in Con- nectient, and brought with them the industry and steady habits of that colony. Soon afterward came the families of Newton, Rood, Brownson, Hurd. The prosperity of the settlement being now assured, a new conn- ty, in the petition for which the inhabitants of New Framingham joined by a vote in town meeting, October 1st, 1760, having been formell, called Berkshire, measures began to be taken to extinguish the proprietary rights and have the plantation incorporated as a town. Colonel Wil- liams, of Pittsfield, the most prominent citizen in the northern part of the county, had the matter in charge, and on January 20th, 1765, the act of incorporation was passed by the General Court, and approved the fol- lowing day by Governor Francis Bernard, the blank left for the name of town being filled with Lanesborough.
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