USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 28
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The soil of Monterey. especially on the higher grounds. is best adapted for grazing, and is largely used for that purpose, while in the lower parts there are many good farms. J. G. Holland, writing in 18.0, says, " No other town receives a greater number of premiums for agri- cultural productions at the annual fair than this." The inhabitants are almost universally agriculturists. At no time in the history of the town has so little been done in manufacturing as during the last few years. Two mills that were in active operation fifteen years ago have since been burned : a paper mill. built and prosperously managed for several years by R. L. MeDowell & Co., afterward owned by W. C. Langdon : and a cotton factory which the firm of Gibbs & Ingersoll built, afterward used as a rake factory, with Daniel McCollum. M. S. Bidwell, and Heath Brothers successive owners. At one time there were two extensive rat trap factories, and for several years the manufacture of ladies' horn combs was a prominent industry, and gave employment to all the mem- bers of several families. There are many good maple orchards in the town. and great quantities of maple sugar are made, though much less than formerly. From several orchards, in some seasons, there is still prodneed over a ton each. Charcoal and wood from here are sold in the adjoining towns in large quantities.
Many of the present inhabitants of this town and Tyringham are directly descended from Capt. John Brewer, whose experience as an early settler has been related in the history of Tyringham. He was the father of thirteen children, and his youngest son, Col. Josiah Brewer, wasalso the father of thirteen children. The size of all the families in those early times was something astonishing. A dozen children seems to have been a very ordinary number, and Col. Giles Jackson, who was a prom- inent man of the town in the time of the Revolution, was the happy father of just two dozen. Fifteen pairs of twins originated in this little scattered settlement in the first 28 years of its history.
Capt. John Chadwick and Lieut. Isaac Garfield have many descend- ants still living in the town and vicinity.
The place now occupied by Lemuel J. Townsend has been in the pos- session of the Townsend family since it was drawn as house lot No. 58. by Rev. Jonathan Townsend, the first pastor of Needham, and one of the original proprietors of Township No. 1. In the year 1278 his son, Sam- uel Townsend, then in the sixtieth year of his age, moved upon this place, which had been previously cleared up and occupied by a tenant.
È.
224
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
He became a prominent man in church and town and lived to the age of ninety-four.
As early as 1780 Moses Fargo, of New London, Conn., settled on Chestnut Hill, where Henry C. Steadman now lives. Those of the name of Fargo now living in the town are directly descended from him.
Late in the last century Isaac Harmon became a settler. Having first settled north of the lake, on Monnt Hunger, in 1816, Mr. Harmon moved to the place which has ever since been occupied by his descend- ants, and which is at present occupied by Mrs. Rawson Harmon.
In 1814 Thomas Miner came from Stonington, Conn .. and afterward purchased the farm one half mile above the " Old Center, " on which his descendants lived until late years. The house on this place, although lately somewhat altered and improved, is supposed to be one that John Chadwick built. In Revolutionary times it was the tavern. In the year 1850 additional room was obtained in this house for a large hallway, a pantry, and a bedroom, by the removal of the old chimney ; and in this chimney a brick was found stamped with the date 1760. This, as far as can be learned, is the oldest house standing, with the exception of that in which Miss Betsey Hale has until recently lived, mentioned in the history of Tyringham.
Among the descendants of Deacon Thomas Orton, the first settler in the limits of the present town of Tyringham, but most of his life a resi. dent of this part of the town, were the Rev. Azariah Orton, D. D., and James Orton, Ph. D., professor of natural history at Vassar, who died in Peru, S. A., in 1877. The late Nathan Jackson, of New York city, was related to this family, and this town was his birthplace.
In 1771 Tristian Steadman came to the territory of Monterey from Rhode Island. One of his sons, Tristian, jr., married the granddaughter of Captain Elijah Herrick, and their descendants are now living in Monterey.
Rev. Adonijah Bidwell. a sketch of whose life is given in the history of Tyringham, was the father of four sons and two daughters. Barnabas became a lawyer of distinction in Stockbridge. He removed to Canada, and there his son, Marshall S., became member of parliament and speaker of the House of Assembly. The descendants of the Rev. Mr. Bidwell are very widely scattered, but one branch of the family still has representa- tives in Monterey. Among those of this family who were born here are Dr. Edwin C. Bidwell, of Vineland, N. J., O. B. Bidwell, president of the First National Bank, Freeport, III., Dr. John Welch Bidwell, of Winsted, Conn .; also the Rev. Josiah Brewer, who became the first missionary to Turkey in Asia.
The Taylor family, once prominent, is now extinct in the town. This is the native place of the Rev. Hutchins Taylor and the Rev. Stephen Taylor, D.D.
The following physicians have lived in the territory of Monterey in succession : Thomas Bonney, Giles Jackson, Amos Carpenter, Jacob
E
Marshall DOBidwell
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TOWN OF MONTEREY.
Kingsbury, Elijah Fowler. Asa G. Welch. William E. Buckley, Millen Sabin, Alvan H. Turner, Alman P. Tieknor, Charles Heath, E. B. Broad- head, and J. S. Smith. The last three are still living and practicing : Dr. Heath in Lee, Dr. Broadhead in Ansonia, Conn , and Dr. Smith, in Vina, California.
MARSHALL S. BIDWELL.
M. S. Bidwell was born in Monterey, Berkshire county. Mass .. August 24th, 1824, and has spent most of his life there : is the largest landowner and pays the heaviest taxes of any one in his town: holds a high position in society : has held town offices repeatedly ; has represented his district in the State Legislature, and has been justice of the peace for about thirty years.
He has been engaged in mercantile business for more than thirty years, but has also owned and carried on a farm most of these years. He has been a large dealer in cattle and horses, and for the last few years has turned his attention to the raising and importing the Holland Dutch cattle, and is making the rearing of Holstein Freisian stock and general farming his occupation.
He has two sons : William S., who succeeds him in the mercantile business in Monterey : and Orlando C., who is now in Williams College in his junior year, and is the writer of the history of Monterey and Tyringham, prepared for the history of Berkshire county. Mr. Bidwell and his two sons are the last male descendants. living in Monterey. of the Rev. Adonijah Bidwell, who was the first pastor of the Congregational church, the first church established in Tyringham, now Monterey. Rev. Adonijah Bidwell was of English stock and his heirs have the family genealogy from King Egbert the Great, who reigned from 800 to $36, down through the Saxony kings, King William the Conqueror, born in 1027. Kings Henry I., II, III., Edward I., II., and III .. Thomas of Woodstock. Duke of Gloucester, Sir John Bouchier, Sir Humphrey Bonchier, John Haynes, first colonial governor of Connecticut, Rev. Edward Taylor and Rev. Ebenezer Devotion, to his mother Jemima Devotion.
He left two sons, Adonijah and Barnabas, and two daughters, Jemima and Theodosia, all of whom left families, among which have been several ministers and missionaries, one member of Parliament. and Speaker of the House, in Upper Canada. of the descendants now sur- viving are Judge David Brewer, United States circuit judge, now living in Leavenworth, Kansas, and Professor Fisk Brewer, now at the head of Grinnell College, lowa : E. C. Bidwell, M. D .. of Vineland. N. J., and Orlando B. Bidwell. president of the Freeport National Bank in Freeport. !!!. , brothers of M. S. Bidwell ; and a host of honored and respected citi- zens of our country, scattered nearly all over our land.
CHAPTER XIII.
TOWN OF MOUNT WASHINGTON.
BY H. F. KEITH, C. E.
Geographical and Descriptive .- First Settlers .- Roads .- First Meetings of Proprietors .- In- corporation .-- Town House and Church .- Schools .- Mills and Manufactories .- The Rebellion .- Summer Visitors.
L OCATED in the extreme southwest corner of Berkshire county, and rising in noble grandeur above the valley of the Housatonic, is Mount Everett, or Bald Mountain, rising 2,000 feet above the valley, or 2,624 feet above tide water, and flanked by a short range of mountains extending north and south. Behind them, about four miles to the west, is another range, along the State line of New York, of nearly equal height above the Harlem Railroad which skirts their western base.
Between these two ranges, which form the boundaries of the town. there is an elevated area from two to three miles in width, from east to west, and seven in length, from north to south. This town among the clouds, as it were, is not only rich in picturesque scenery, but has an eventful and interesting history. Its location and height of 1,000 feet above the neighboring towns place it in a disadvantageous position as a business center, but as a popular summer resort no town in Berkshire county is so favorably situated. It is accessible from New York city and vicinity by means of the Harlem and other railroads, to Copake, 104 miles from New York, and a very pleasant drive of three miles up the mountain.
Its business is wholly agricultural, and the keeping of summer board- ers. Many of the farmers are far better off than would be expected in such a location.
Who was the first white settler, when he came, and where he was located, are now lost in obscurity ; but there is good evidence that several families were living here as early as 1730, if not earlier, for settlements were begun in the adjoining town of Salisbury in 1729, and the Dutch from New York had already pushed their settlements into the Housatonic
227
TOWN OF MOUNT WASHINGTON.
valley. In the report to the Massachusetts Legislature of a committee in 1753, in a list of settlers then living west of Sheffield, with a statement of their improvements, time of occupation, etc., are found the following names, most of whom, if not all, were residents on this mountain :
Names.
No. houses.
No. acres im-
proved.
No. bbls. sy-
der.
No. years in
possession.
tivated by
any person.
Christopher Brazee.
1
20
2
15
20
John Hallenbeck, son
1
60
17
60
Michael
father
1
60
6
18
30
Andrew Race.
1
60
16
26
Josiah Loomis.
1
9
9
James Van Deusen
1
18
18
4
The number of years of occupation previous to 1753, given by these persons over 130 years ago, indicate a much earlier settlement than is generally supposed ; but when we consider the adventurous spirit of our ancestors, the proximity of this territory to the early settlements along the Hudson River valley, its natural facilities for protection and isolation from the Indians, who were generally more numerous in the Housatonic valley, it is not improbable that the earliest settlements of Berkshire county were within its limits.
About this time, 1752, we find abundant evidence of settlements from the voluminous correspondence and petitions of these and other inhabit- ants to the Massachusetts government on the one hand, and of Robert Liv- ingston to the government of New York, and the correspondence between the two governments in relation to a continual border war that existed between them and Mr. Robert Livingston for many years thereafter : Livingston's grant from the governor of New York in 1715 including about one third of the present town.
During these title and boundary disputes, the line between the States of Massachusetts and New York not then having been established, many men were carried to the jails at Albany and Springfield by the respective disputants, and one William Race was shot dead by the Livingston party. April 14th, 1755, in the easterly part of the town, probably near Race Mountain, which may have taken its name from him.
May 7th, 1757, Livingston's party burned and destroyed the houses of Jonathan Darby, Andrew Race. Christian Hallenbeck. Christopher and Henry Brazee, and Simon Burton, who fled to the Housatonic set- tlements for protection.
November 27th, 1753, the following petition was presented to the General Court :
" Petition praying that your honors in your Great Wisdom and in your wonted Goodness, would be Pleased for to setel us in our Possessions, or, if not, for to make
No. years cul-
228
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
a Grant of Land to us in a Place to the East of Taghknack (Columbia county) and to the west of Sheffield, to wit in the mountain, where there is a valley of Land Lying betwene two Great mountains, and may contain a few famileys, Even to that number as to make a small Parish; but it will cost a Great Deal of time to make a road in to the mountain on both side, or to Deal with your Poor subjects as in your Great wis- dom and wonted Goodness shall think fitt, and we, your Poor Petitioners, as in Duty bound Shall Ever Pray.
" Josiah Loomis, George Robinson, Jan Hollenback, Jacob Loomis, Joseph Orlcutt, Michael Hollenback." This petition was not granted.
March 15th, 1757. Benjamin Kankewenakonannt, sachem, and Man- hanwee Hunter, both of Stockbridge, in consideration of $261 New York money, in hand paid, conveyed to seventy-nine persons, residents of Mount Washington and the adjoining towns, "one certain large Tract of Land, sitnate and being within the county aforesaid, bonnding south on the south Bound Line of the said Province ; North on a line drawn par- allel to said line seven miles distant from said province Line, which is on the Township sold to Robert Noble and others; in part east on the Great mountain called Taconock Mountain (that is the steep Mountain); West on a Line to be drawn parallel to Hudson River, at twelve Miles distant from said River, &c." Of these seventy-nine purchasers the fol- lowing appear to have been residents at the time of the purchase, viz .: Christopher and Henry Brasie, Simon Barten (or Barton). Jonathan Dar- by. Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Michel and John Halenbach. father and son, Christian Halenbach, Jacob and Josiah Loomis, JJoseph Paine, George Robinson, Andries or Andrew Race, William Race. jr., Elezer Stockwell. Jacob Van Gilder, James Van Deusen, Thomas Woll- cot, Simon Willard, William Webb.
In a tax list of Egremont, of 1761 (with which Mount Washington voted previous to its incorporation), the following names are given as mountain men : Nathan Benjamin. Joseph Benedict, Francis Belud, John Dibble, James H. Dosser, Jacob Fosbrey, Samnel Griffin, Silas Howard, Charles Miller, David McQuire, Nathan MeQuire. Ruben MeQuire. Ben- jamin Osborn, Joseph Osborn, Jonathan Ozbon. Widow Shaw. Philip Welch, Thomas Wolcut, John Wright. This indicates a considerable change in ownership in four years, but when we consider that the former residents were pioneers or squatters, that the lands were first surveyed into lots in 1759-60, and assigned to residents, and that the houses of many of the first named had just been burned and pulled down by the Livingston party. it is not improbable.
In 1757 the proprietorship was organized by the choice of Jonathan Darby as clerk, which office he held for ten years or more. He probably lived some three quarters of a mile north of Sky Farm, as he sold a lot there in 1764. and removed farther down the mountain into Egremont.
Most of the roads now in nse. with slight changes, were laid out as early as 1760, with the exception of the Bashabich and one or two cross roads. An old road, now impassable, from the Lee place, now P. C.
220
TOWN OF MOUNT WASHINGTON.
Garrett's, on the west side of Plantin Pond, to Bear's Rock, was in use as early as 1780. They were all originally laid out four rods wide, but were reduced to three in 1820, with the exception of that from Bear Rock to the Sheffield Line, which is still four.
The early town records, and probably the first proprietors' book, were destroyed at the burning of the town clerk's house some twenty years since.
November 5th, 1778. the first recorded meeting in the second proprie- tor's book was held at the house of Stephen Bump, which stood near the boarding house of Henry P. Weaver. At this meeting "John Dibble was chosen moderator: John Hulett, proprietor's clerk ; and Captain John King and Peter Woodin a committee to receive the money of the proprietors, and apply it to the General Court to secure the lands to the proprietors, or to employ some trusty hand to do the service for them. Voted to call the place Monnt Washington."
At a meeting March 1st, 1779, at the vacant honse of Mr. Samuel Dib- ble, "Lient. John Dibble was chosen moderator, Mr. Samuel Dibble. clerk; Charles Patterson, Capt. John King, Mr. Win. Campbell, and Sergt. John Woodin a com to take care of the minister and school lots, clear them from incumbrances, let them out and oversee the undivided lands ; and Lieut. John Dibble, Chas. Patterson, and Capt. Robert Campbell a com to as- sist John King and Peter Woodin chosen at the last meeting."
These two meetings were just previous to its incorporation as a town, June 21st, 1779.
Of the doings of the town from its incorporation to 1796 but little is known, as the town records embracing that interval were lost. Charles Pat- terson was the first town clerk. and the town furnished soldiers for the Revolutionary war. Colonel Elisha Sheldon, a distinguished cavalry offi- cer of that war, was a land owner from 1760 to 1788, and possibly a resi- dent of the town.
Previous to 1806 the inhabitants appeared to have held their meetings at private houses, school house, and barns. Rev. Benjamin Abbott. a Methodist preacher. said that in 1789 he preached at Esquire King's to a fine congregation, considering the place, and had a precious time. Rev. John Culver, in 1791, preached there frequently in dwellings, school house, and barns, and in 1801 the noted Lorenzo Dow preached there.
April 7th. 1806, the town voted " to build a meeting house 24 by 30 feet." and chose . Fenner King. David Booth, and William Lee a com- mittee to oversee the work, and that they proceed to build this spring, and that said house be free for all religious seets not intruding upon each other's appointments." At a subsequent meeting $284 were appropriated for the building, and it was used September 6th. 1806, for a town meet- ing. It stood at the west end of the cross road leading west from the present church. The pulpit was not built until 1808, and there were no seats until 1818. About that time the funds derived from the letting of the minister's lot were divided among the Methodists, Presbyterians.
.
230
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
Universalists, and Baptists. The funds derived from the sale of the min- ister's lot yield an income of about $70, which is under the control of the town, and is now generally appropriated for the benefit of the new Con- gregational society, organized December 11th, 1874. The present church was dedicated November 24th, 1869. It was built at a cost of 82,700, contributed by the townspeople, the benevolent people of Berkshire. and the American Congregational Union. Mr. H. H. Van Dyke, assist- ant U. S. Treasurer, furnished the bell ; Rev. Dr. Gale, of Lee, procured the funds for the pulpit and painting ; and he and Rev. Winthrop H. Phelps, of South Egremont, were active in procuring the erection of the building.
A Congregational church was organized here October 6th, 1831 ; but by deaths and removals it became extinct.
The old town house and church went to decay. In 1876 a new town house was erected.
The Methodists had the earliest church organization here, but the society is now practically extinct.
The first recorded appropriation for schools was in 1800, when $60 were divided between two districts. There were three distriets in 1809, when the town had its largest population, but there are only two now.
At an early day there were saw mills in various parts of the town. There is now only one, which is but little used. There was formerly also a grist mill, but none now. In 1837 there was a forge for the manu- facture of bar iron, and an axe factory at what is now called the City ; and in 1845, shovels, spades, forks, hoes, and castings were made there : but all this business was abandoned about 1850.
The patriotism of the people in Mount Washington was fully equal to that of the other towns in Berkshire county during the Civil war of 1861-5. The town furnished more than its quota of men and contributed liberally of money. The patriotic ladies of the town contributed many comforts and luxuries for the soldiers in the field.
The increasing annual influx of summer boarders in Mount Wash- ington seems to indicate the dawning of a new era of prosperity for the town. Its population in 1880 was 205.
One of the most popular summer resorts is the " Alandar," Frank S. Weaver, proprietor. This house, formerly called the " South End," is now (1885) in its eighth season. It has accommodations for fifty guests and is a deservedly popular resort for those seeking rest, health, and pleasure among the mountains of old Berkshire. The post office ad- dress of the proprietor is Copake Iron Works, N. Y.
£
CHAPTER XIV.
TOWN OF NEW MARLBOROUGH.
BY PROF. S. T. FROST.
Settlement and Early History .-- The Revolution .- Agriculture .-- Manufacturing .- Roads .- Post Office .- South Berkshire Institute .- Timothy Leonard, the Hermit .- Lake Buell .-- Fish and Game .- Geology .- Dry Hill .- The Great Rainfall .- The Rebellion .- Biograph- ical Mention.
A BOUT one mile northwest of New Marlboro Center, on the road to Great Barrington, by the right bank of the Anthony Brook, so named from the last Indian resident of its valley, is the place first occu- pied in this town as a white man's abode. Here Mr. Benjamin Wheeler passed the winter of 1739-40, alone, no white man nearer than Sheffield. This Wheeler homestead remained in the family for 140 years, through five generations of direct descent. Four of the five owners bore the name, Benjamin Wheeler.
The settlement of New Marlboro was begun in accordance with the action of the "Great General Court or Assembly for His Majesty's prov- ince of the Massachusetts Bay in New England holden at Boston. 1735." On the last day of that year, Edmund Quincy, Esq., from a committee of both houses made the following report :
" That there be four townships opened upon the road betwixt Westfield and Sheffield. That they be contiguous to each other. That they be six miles square, and as near to said road as the land will allow. That there be sixty three home lots of sixty acres each, laid out in each township in as regular, compact and desirable a manner as may be, one of which shall be for the first settled minister, one for the second settled minister, one for the school and one for each grantee; and which shall draw equal shares in all future divisions; and also that said grantee shall appear and give security to the value of $40 to perform all things on their lots and in their re- spective townships which had been required by the great and general court of grantees between the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers, and thit there be a com- mittee of five appointed, empowered and obliged to bring forward the line of town- ships as is before provided."
The evident purpose of this action of the General Court was to estab- lish communication between the Connecticut and Housatonic valleys.
232
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
The townships seem to have been laid out largely for the sake of the road.
The same plan, with the same specific conditions to the grantees, had already been employed to connect the valleys of the Merrimac and the Connectiont. These river valleys, now well occupied by the steady ad- vance of settlement moving northward from the Sound, had a scanty and ill defended inter-communication by land, over the great rocky barriers which lay between them.
A road had been opened from Westfield to Sheffield, and along this road fonr townships were to be placed like flanking columns to protect the ever threatened colonial communications. Thus were the isolated river valley settlements bound more closely to the province.
These connections were all a part of a general plan to open and estab- lish a colonial road between Boston and Albany. It was built, doubtless. by way of preparation for the coming struggle between England and France and was much used in the old French wars and also in that of the Revolution.
It is said that the troops and stores of General Amherst's expedition against Ticonderoga, in 1759. passed over this road. Lord Howe is said to have marched over the same route with the previous unfortunate ex- pedition against the same stronghold. Doubtless in all the expeditions against Canada, when the rendezvous was made at Albany, the Massachu- setts contingent, at least, marched by this way, and probably also what - ever English troops came from Halifax by way of Boston. The captured army of Burgoyne was also sent to Boston by this way. It was known as "The Great Road. " and for many years was the only public line of travel from the east to Albany. The main line, however, pissed a little north of New Marlboro, through Blanford, Otis, North Sandisfield, and South Tyringham (now Monterey) to Great Barrington.
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