USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 18
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As late as 1841 there were at least seven old Revolutionary soldiers living in Lee, whose names and ages were as follows: Joseph Willis. eighty-two ; Renben Marsh, seventy-eight ; Nathaniel Bassett, eighty. four: Cornelius Bassett. seventy-nine : Lovi Robinson. seventy-eight ; Fenner Foote, eighty six : Joel Hayden, seventy eight.
Following close upon the Revolutionary war, and as a consequence of it, came the uprising in Massaelinsetts known as the Shays insurrection. The grievances leading to that disturbance. the burdensome taxes and depreciated currency, seem to have pressed with peculiar weight upon the people of Berkshire, and very many were active sympathizers with
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the movement. Lee seems to have been one of the towns most deeply infected by the spirit of discontent, and was the scene of one of the col- lisions between the rebels and the government troops. While General Lincoln was on his march toward Berkshire to put down the rebellion. 250 malcontents gathered on the ridge in the eastern part of the town, where Deacon M. E. Culver now lives, then occupied by Arthur Perry. Here they were confronted by several hundred of the government forces under General Patterson, who took a position on Hamblin's Hill, on the other side of the Greenwater Brook. The tradition is that the Shays men supplied their lack of canton by mounting Mrs. Perry's yarn beam on a pair of wheels and parading it as a piece of artillery, by which manœuvre the enemy was led to desist from attack. The probability is that there was no serious purpose of bloodshed on either side. The insurgents were induced to disperse by assurances from General Patterson that if arrested for treason they should be tried in their own county. This battle, if bat- tle it could be called. in which there was neither gore nor glory on either side, took place in 1787. One of the few victims of this insurrection was Oziel Wilcox, of Lee, son of Peter Wilcox, who was killed in an en- counter with the government troops in Sheffield. Peter Wilcox, jr., who escaped from jail after arrest, was for a time secreted from the govern- ment oniceis under a shelving rock on the east side of what is now known as " Fern Cliff." Il's place of refuge has since been called " Peter's Cave." He was among the six persons from Berkshire condemned to death for treason. The sentences of all were finally remittell, This un. happy struggle led to much division and bitterness of feeling in the town, and was for some time a hindrance to its prosperity. The feeling had not entirely subsided when Dr. Hyde came to the pastorate of the Con gregational church in 1992. .. We have been very Shaysy here, " said one of his advisers to the young pastor, " and you'll have to be as wise as a serpent to keep peace among us."
In the war of 1812 the people of Lee had but slight participation. Fifteen men were drafted from the town, but their service was limited to six weeks of harmless drill in Boston Harbor. Their names were John Nye, Thomas E. M. Bradley, John Ohmsby, Samuel D. Sturgess, J. M. Remely, Silas Garfield, John Noreort, Eben C. Bradley, Horace Treat. John Wooly, John Howk. Benjamin G. Osborn, John Allen, Arthur Perry, and - Keith. John Nye was chosen captain of the company to which they belonged, and Major General Joseph Whiton, of South Lee, was commander of the division. Party spirit ran very high in town during the war. Hon. William Hyde, of Ware, son of Rev. Dr. Hyde. relates the following incident of 'Squire William Ingersoll, the patriarch of the town, which both illustrates the goal of the federalists in " getting out voters, " and the customs of the time :
" During the war of 1812, when the election of governor was on the first Mon- day of April, when the mud was deep and the show banky prevented moving on wheels, I saw coming down Howk's hill by my fathers house a venerable man seated
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in an arm chair in a large sleigh drawn by two horses. His hair was whit ; he wore a cocked hat and gray overcoat, and leaned upon his staff for support as the sleigh was drawn across the bridge and up to the front door of the church where the town meetings were then held. Two strong men, his grandsons, lifted the chair and its occupant from the sleigh and bore him up the broad aisle to the deicons' seat, where he deposited his vote for Caleb Strong for governor."
Mr. Ingersoll was at that time about 90 years old. The sympathies of the people were overwhelmingly federal. At the presidential election of 1812 the vote stood 180 for the federal candidate to only 14 for his opponent. Indeed, federal sentiment predominated in the town during the whole continuance of the party, and in subsequent years the whig party was almost equally in the ascendency. Distinctively abolition opinions, it seems, were quite unpopular in the town, and abolitionists were very few until the outbreak of the Rebellion. In later years the republican party has, as a rule, been in the majority.
The act of incorporation contained no provision with regard to the establishment of a church, as was customary in most of the old towns of New England. But that religious interests were prominent in the thoughts of the people is proved by their action at the second town meet- ing, January Sth, 1778, when it was "voted to raise the sum of $30 law- ful money to be laid out in preaching the Gospel." The first religious services were held in the barn of Oliver West, afterward a deacon in the church. The hay-mow, it is said, was used as singers' gallery, and the five sons of Jonathan Foote, with their sister Lovice, constituted the choir, a fact commemorated in a doggerel by Nathan Dillingham, the poet and wit of the time:
". David and Ase sing base: Jonathan and Fenner sing tenor; 'Vice and Sol beat them all."
The first preacher of whom there is any record was Abraham Fowler, as appears by a vote of the town passed February 5th, 1779: " Voted to apply to Mr. Fowler to preach for us." March 20th, 1780, before the church had been organized, it was "voted to give Mr. Abraham Fowler a call for their minister to preach the Gospel among us." This vote was repeated on the 7th of April following, with provision added for his support, as follows: " To give Mr. Fowler one hundred and eighty pounds for a settlement, to be good as money was in 1774. Voted to give Mr. Fowler fifty pounds yearly for a sallary." Another vote passed at the same meeting is significant: "Voted to accept all the Baptists. Churchmen, and Quakers from settleing and supporting a Prispeartering minister in this town." This vote was repeated in substance several times afterward, and it shows that the people of this town were some- what in advance of the time in their recognition of the rights of con- science.
The first church edifice was built in 1781. It stood in what is now the Park, opposite the residence of Mr. J. W. Bassett. It was as rude
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a structure for the purpose as can well be imagined. The inside was en- tirely unfinished and open to the rafters like a barn. It was several years without either pews or glass windows, and it never had any means of heating except foot stoves. But it served the purpose of worship for twenty years, until 1800, when it gave place to a more pretentious struc- ture, modeled after the church in the then aristocratic town of Richmond, and fairly up to the best church architecture of the time.
The Congregational church was organized May 25th, 1780, and was composed of abont thirty six members. The purpose to ordain Mr. Fowler was not consummated, a remonstrance so numerously signed being presented to the council called for the purpose, that it was deemed inexpedient to proceed. The ground of opposition was doubtless theo- logical, as diversity of religious doctrine was a source of division in the town during all the first decade of its history; The church remained without a head until July 3d, 1783, when Mr. Elisha Parmale was or- dained as pastor. His health failed almost immediately, and he died August 28, 1784, in Shenandoah county, Va., whither he had gone to seek restoration. Mr. Parmale was a native of Goshen, Conn., a graduate of Harvard College, and according to Dr. Hyde, "was sound in the faith. aniable in his manners, and highly respected for his piety and talents." He was only twenty-nine years old at his death, and it must have been a great trial to the young and struggling church to have this promising first pastorate brought to such a sad and sudden end.
After the death of Mr. Parmale the church remained eight years without a pastor. the connection of the church with the town, diversity of doctrinal belief, and the disturbed political condition combining to make union of sentiment in the choice of a minister impossible. But a call was at last extended to Mr. Alvan Hyde, and he was ordained over the church June 6th, 1792. With his pastorate the real history of the church begins, as during the previous twelve years it had made no prog- ress either in numbers or influence. The provision for his support was, according to the usual standard of the time, 9900 as a settlement, to be paid in annual instalments of $50 for four years, 960 salary the first year, to be increased £5 a year until it should amount to $80, which was to be the permanent salary ; to which was added the promise of fire wood and of labor and materials to assist him in building. A farm of fifty- four acres was also purchased for him, on which he immediately built the house which was his home during his entire pastorate. It was after- ward occupied by his son, Alexander Hyde, Esq .. until his death in 1881. and it is still in the possession of the family. Dr. Hyde's salary at its maximum was but $700, yet he brought up a family of eleven children. sent four sons to college, and led the town in style of living. He was the first man in town to indulge in the luxury of a chaise.
Dr. Hyde was a native of that part of Norwich, Conn., now known as Franklin, graduated at Dartmouth College in LESS, studied theology with Dr. Backus, of Somers, Conn .. and with Dr. West, of Stockbridge,
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and was twenty-four years of age when he was ordained in Lee. His pastorate continued forty-one years, until his death, December 4th, 1833, and was throughout remarkably successful. In the first year of his min. istry occurred a powerful revival of religion, by which over 100 members were added to the church, and the moral and spiritual character of the community quite transformed. Not remarkable as a preacher, in his pastoral work and influence he was unsurpassed by any minister of the time. Dr. Humphrey, writing of him in Sprague's Amely, says : "Asa pastor Dr. Hyde was second to no minister with whom I have ever been acquainted." His influence, though exercised in a quiet way, was the most powerfully molding influence in the first half century of the town's history. All accounts agree in making the church during his ministry one of the best examples of country church life in New England : and as church and town were during that period virtually one, he may in a sense be called the father of both ; so controlling was his influence in both ecclesiastical and secular affairs that Lee was said in derision to be .. Hyde-bound." His pastorate was marked by revivals all through ; the total number received into the church by him was 674, and the member- ship at his death was 350, making it one of the largest and most prosper- ous in Western Massachusetts. In addition to Dr. Hyde's pastoral labors he received into his family theological students. Between thirty and forty ministers were thus prepared by him for their work, in whole or in part. His influence was not limited to the town, but was felt through all the surrounding region, and to some extent throughout the State. He was for many years vice-president of Williams College, and was at one time strongly urged to accept the presidency. He died in the midst of his usefulness, at the age of sixty five.
Dr. Hyde's long pastorate was followed by four of comparative brev ity, which may be classed together as constituting one chapter of the church's history. Rev. Joshua N. Danforth was installed June 18th. 1834, and dismissed March 28th. 1838. He was a native of Pittsfield. a graduate of Williams College and of Princeton Theological Seminary, and besides his ministry in Lee, had pastorates in New Castle, Del., Washington, D. C., and Alexandria, Va. He was also for a time agent of the Colonization Society. He died November 14th, 1861.
The next pastor was Rev. William B. Bond, who came to his work from Union Theological Seminary and was ordained March 18th, 1840, was dismissed April 8th. 1846. Mr. Bond's ministry, though brief, was rich in spiritual results, a revival occurring in 1841 by which more than fifty were added to the church, and numerous additions being made at other times. After leaving Lee, Mr. Bond held pastorates in St. Johns- bury, Vt., and New Braintree, and is now living in retirement in Chicago. Mr. Bond was snecedel by Rev. Riiph Smith, who was installe I De. cember Sth, 1846, and dismissed December 4th, 1550. He was a man of unusual ability as a writer and preacher : but with the gifts of genius he bad also some of its eccentricities, which may have detracted somewhat
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from his success as a minister. That the congregation was a growing one, however, is indicated by the fact of the enlargement of the church edifice during his pastorate to a seating capacity of 1,000, making it one of the largest in the region. The building had previensly, in 1833, been removed from its original position in the park to the site of the present edifice. Mr. Smith was a native of Long Island, and a graduate of Wil- liams College. He died at Sangerties. N. Y .. November 20, 1867. aged fifty seven. He was succeeded by Rev. Sereno D. Clark, who resigned after holding the pastorate but a single year. He has since been pastor in Sunderland, and is now engaged in literary pursuits.
It was of course impossible that any of these pastors in such short terms of service, though all able and faithful men, should leave any very deep impress on the community. But the church seems to have main tained a vigorous life during all this period. growing with the growth of the town, and it was in every respect stronger at the close of it than at the beginning. But as it had had the advantage of one long and pros- perous pastorate under Dr. Hyde, it was now to have another; Rev. Nahum Gale, D.D. Dr. Gale was a native of Anburu in this State, a graduate of Amherst College, in the class of 1837. and of East Windsor Theological Seminary. Before coming to Lee he had been nine years pastor in Ware village, and two years professor of ecclesiastical history at East Wind- sor. He was installed in Lee September 1st, 1853, and his pastorate con tinned twenty-three years, and was in all respects a most successful one. repeating that of Dr. Hyde in influence and molding power, so far as such repetition was possible in the changed condition of the times. The seasons of special revival were hardly less frequent. while the increments of the church from year to year were greater. The entire number re- ceived by Dr. Gale was 573. The benevolence of the church was greatly enlarged, especially in the direction of Home and Foreign missions. He had rare taet with the young, great numbers of whom were gathered into the church. His executive and organizing faculty came in happily to supplement his other powers of influence, and to give the results of his ministry the element of permanence. lle died, greatly lamented. Sep- tember 18th. 1876, aged sixty-four.
During the pastorate of Dr. Gale the church edifice, built in 1800, · was destroyed by fire on the night of January 23d. 1857. The disaster, coming as it did in the midst of great financial depression, was a serious one ; but the people rallied to the emergency, and from the ruins rose immediately the present edifice, the third in which the church has found a home. built at a cost of $30.000, and dedicated September Ist. 1858.
Dr. Gale was succeeded by Rev. Lyman $. Rowland, the eighth in the pastoral succession. He was installed April 5th, 1877, and is still in office. May 25th, 1880, the church celebrated its hundredth anniversary with an historical discourse by the pastor and other appropriate services. Its history has been somewhat remarkable for its uniform prosperity Its solid and conservative character is indicated by the fact that it is one
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of the few churches in New England that retain in any degree the old system of property taration as the basis of their finances. The total number connected with it from the beginning has been abont 2,000. Its present membership is 480, of which nearly 400 are resident.
For more than fifty years the Congregational church was the only one in town. Separate religious services began, however, to be occasionally held at South Lee as early as 1805, by Rev. Mr. Garrison, a Methodist progcher. The Methodist interest in this locality, though perpetuated for more than fifty years under numerous preachers, resident and itiner- ant, seems never to have attained to the consistency of full church organ- ization. In 1827 a Baptist church was organized in Tyringham, with a branch at South Lee, the united bodies going under the title of the "Tyringham and Lee Baptist Church." The meetings of both denom. inations were held at first in the school houses ; but in 1828, by their united efforts. and with the aid of other denominations, a union chapel was built, in which Methodist and Baptist ministers preached on alternate Sabbaths. Rev. Mr. Bradley, a Congregational minister, also preached for several years to the united congregations. Religious services are now maintained by the Episcopalians, the other denominations having mostly abandoned the field.
The Methodist Episcopal church at the Center began as a missionary station in 1831, under the lead of Revs. David Holmes and Thomas Sparks, the meetings being held in the Center and Water street school houses. The present Methodist society was organized January 16th. 1839, its first trustees being Amos Barnes, Thomas Hulett, Asa Stebbins, M. D. Field, and John Sturgess. The house of worship was dedicated January 25th, 1840, and enlarged to its present dimensions in 1849. The parsonage was built in 1852. Until 1843 the Lee church formed part of a circuit with several other churches in the neighboring towns. Since that time it has been a separate station, receiving its pastors from the New York Conference. It has had in all thirty-two different pastors and a prosperous career. It is now the largest church of the denomination in southern Berkshire. Its present membership is 210.
The Baptist church in Lee was organized with twenty members, Sep- tember 14th, 1850, under the lead of Rev. Amory Gale. The church edi- fice was dedicated in the fall of 1852. The first deacons were Moses E. Culver, Eli Taintor, and Hosea Codding. The growth of the young church was at first quite rapid, the membership reported in September, 1852, being 101. But in the expectation of a rapid increase of population in the town, the church had been led to the building of a larger and more expensive edifice than was needed, and the result was a burdensome debt which became a serious obstacle in the way of its prosperity. Rev. Mr. Gale resigned, after a pastorate of seven years, in June, 1857. By his Christian zeal and public spirit he had greatly endeared himself both to the church and to the community at large. AAfter many years of labor in the West, he died in Syria, whither he had gone in pursuit of health, in
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November. 1874. The burden of debt became at last so oppressive that in 1863 the church felt compelled to alienate its property and disband its organization. A new church, however, was innnediately formed, with thirty-four members, under the name of the " Bethel Baptist Church and Society in Lee," and the title to the property became ultimately vested in the Berkshire Baptist Association, where it is still held. The pastors succeeding Rev. Mr. Gale are as follows : Rev. Ralph H. Bowles, Rev. Charles W. Potter, Rov. Asa Bronson, Rev. H. A. Morgan. Rev. Joseph H. Seaver, Rev. Stephen Pillsbury, Rev. P. A. Nordell, Rev. L. N. Hig- gins, and Rev. J. D. Pope. The church is entitled to great credit for the spirit of fortitude and self sacrifice with which, in the face of so many discouragements, the enterprise has been maintained. It is now in a prosperous condition, with a membership of about 100.
The St. George's Episcopal Church was organized June 4th, 1856. under the lead of Hon. Lester Filley. The first officers were: wardens, Lester Filley and William T. Fish ; vestrymen, James A. Weed, Amos Fisher, John Evans. Benjamin F. Bosworth, W. L. Davies. The first rector was Rev. George T. Chapman. D. D. A church edifice was erected in 1857 at the cost of $7,500. On Christmas eve. in 1861, this building with all its contents was destroyed by fire. This was a severe blow to the church, and for a time its services were suspended. In 1865 a new edifice, built of marble contributed by Mr. Charles Heebner, the proprie- tor of the quarry, was erected, which, however, owing to debt, was not consecrated until October 7th, 1873. This building was also destroyed in the extensive fire of February 3d, 1879, only the walls being left standing. The insurance was fortunately adequate to cover the loss, and from the ruins immediately rose the present beautiful honse, which was consecrated September 20th, 1880. Among those who have held the rec- torship since Dr. Chapman, for periods longer or shorter. are the follow- ing : Rev. John F. Spaulding, Rev. Gustavus Murray, Rev. E. R. Bish- op, Rev. W. C. Winslow, Rev. W. R. Harris, Rev. A. E. George, and - Rev. S. H. Hilliard. The present number of communicants is about 50.
For the first seventy-five years of its history the population of the town was almost exclusively American and Protestant. The construction of the Housatonic Railroad, in 1849, brought the first influx of foreigners, mostly Irish Catholics. The manufactories of the town have also em- ployed them in constantly increasing numbers, until now about half of the population of the town is foreign by birth or parentage, nearly all being Roman Catholic. Religious services for the benefit of this class were first held by Rev. P. Cuddihy, who came down from Pittsfield occasionally for that purpose, and under his leadership St. Mary's Church was built in 1856. Its first pastor was Rev. Peter Egan, who continued in charge until his death in 1864. He was succeeded by Rev. George H Brennan, who resigned in 1883. The present pastor is Rev. T. M. Smith. There have been also several assistant priests, the extent of the parish making such aid necessary. A Roman Catholic church, called the Church
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of St. Francis, has recently been erected at South Lee, which is also under the care of the priests of St. Mary's. The Roman Catholic con- gregation is by far the largest in town, many coming in from surrounding towns where no such services are held.
Since 1844 separate religious services under various auspices and names have been held in Lee by the colored people. There are at present something less than one hundred of this class in town. Their most per- manent preacher has been Mr. L. H. Cloyd, whose character and faithful. ness have made him greatly respected. In 1867 a union chapel was erected at East Lee for the use of all denominations in that section, at a cost of $3,000. In this chapel preaching services are held on Sunday evenings by the pastors of the town in rotation, and a flourishing Sunday school is maintained. No section or class is now unprovided with ade. quate religious privileges.
CHAPTER VIII
TOWN OF LEE (continued).
Educational History .- Manufacturing .- Marble Quarries .- General Business Interest -.- Newspapers .- Hotels .- Lee Banks,-Railroads .- Physicians .- Agriculture.The Civil War .- Memorial Hall .- Post Offices .-- Cemeteries .- Free Masons .- Police Court .- Fire District .- Census .- Centennial Anniversary.
T HE first public school in Lee was established in 1784. when it was voted "to raise $40 the present year to be laid out in schooling. and to choose a committee to divide the town into districts for schooling." Four districts were first established, to which a fifth seems to have been added not long afterward. In 1794 the districts were designated as fol lows: Northeast, Southeast, Center, Southwest, and Northwest. For many years the money raised for schools did not exceed the original ap- propriation of €40, and one year, 1786, the town refused to raise any money for this purpose. Until 1814 the schools seem to have been almost exclusively under the supervision of Dr. Hyde, who examined the trach ers, and gave them all the instruction they ever had in grammar. In that year began the appointment annually of a committee to assist Dr. Hyde in this work. The first committee for this purpose was Nathaniel Bas- sett, Dr. Hubbard Bartlett, Hon. Joseph Whiton, Rollin C. Dewey, and John Winegar. Dr. Hyde was accustomed to visit the schools regularly. and in addition to his oversight of the secular branches of study, had stated examinations in the Catechism. The number of districts gradually increased with the growth of the town. until there were twelve in all. There has been a great change in the districts since the early times: those in the outskirts of the town having in many cases been nearly depleted of pupils with the decrease of population, while in the schools at the Center there has been a corresponding increase. At present there are in town eighteen separate schools, and a school population of about som The present total amount expended annually for school purpose, is about $7,000. The Hopland District, embracing now six separate schools, was incorporated by special act in 1792. Its fund, which originated in the sale of lands granted to the early settlers for school purposes. amounts to something over $1,600, and yields an annual income of about $100
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