USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 3
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"The houses are in many instances decayed; the Episcopal church is barely decent; the Congregational, ruinous. Few places can boast of a better soil, or more delightful situation, yet I suspect few have been less prosperous or less happy. Re- ligion has had here, generally, a doubtful existence, and during the little time in which they have had a minister of the Gospel he has scarcely been able to find a subsistence."
This description corresponds to that of the Rev. Dr. Patten, who, in company with Dr. Hopkins, visited the town in 1794, and who has re. corded in his reminiscences the following :
"The people were without a minister, nor was there any convenient place in which to assemble for public worship. Dr. H. inquired if his former meeting house could not be fitted for the purpose for one Sabbath; but it was found to be imprac- ticable, as the windows were broken, the door had fallen down, and the floor had long been occupied by sheep, who resorted to it from the common at night, and in storms. It was further said, that if a meeting should be appointed anywhere else, there would be but little interest taken in it; but few would attend. It was common for those who regarded the Sabbath and public ordinances to go to other towns to enjoy them; while others devoted the day to visiting, to sitting in taverns, to horse-
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racing, and other amusements; and Mr. Hopkins supposed they expended much more in these ways, and the consequent dissipation and extravagance, than would be necessary for the support of the gospel ministry among them."
Scarcely had the town been incorporated when troubles arose be- tween the English and Dutch settlers in reference to the money raised for religions purposes. Tradition asserts that the latter were originally of the Lutheran church, and while they paid their legal share toward the building of the meeting house, and were proportionately taxed for the support of the minister, they desired to listen from time to time to preaching in their language by a clergyman of their own faith. Since this request was denied them, they began to withdraw from attendance from divine worship, which, by the law of the colony, was at that time a penal offense, and in some instances they were punished by confinement in the stocks at Sheffield. This intolerance proved unfavorable to the church party. and at the same time there was a general apathy in regard to religion throughout the town. The salary of Dr. Hopkins, small though it was, was with difficulty raised by the town, and at a meeting held December 9th, 1762, " it was put to vote whether the town would give the Rev. Samnel Hopkins the sum of eighty pounds agreeable to the grant made to him on the fourth day of June, 1762, for his service in preaching, &e., the current year, and the moderator declared that it was not a vote for said sum : whereupon a large number of voters arose and insisted that it was clearly a vote, and after polling, the moderator and said party disagreed, and the meeting finally broke up in a great tumult and noise, and nothing further was done."
As a result of these quarrels the Episcopal church was organized by the Dutch settlers together with the opposers of Dr. Hopkins. For some time a missionary had been among them, for whose support they contrib- uted, and at the same time they were taxed by the town for the mainte nance of the Congregational minister. This cause of dissension was re- moved in 1764, from which time, by special votes, they were allowed to withdraw from the treasurer, for their own church, the amount assessed upon them for religious purposes. But the quarrel abated only to break out again with greater violence. There was a strong tory element in the town, and as Dr. Hopkins was a zealous whig, and was not a man to conceal his convictions, this also contributed to the opposition against him. As the election of officers at the town meeting in March, 1766. was declared illegal, a second election, ordered by the General Conrt, was held on the 14th of July, at which Joseph Hawley, of Northampton, pre- sided. In a letter dated July, 1266. and quoted by Mr. Taylor in his his- tory of Great Barrington, Dr. Hopkins writes :
" Last week we had a town meeting which lasted three days. The spirits of each party were raised to a very high degree. In the issue the Tories carried the day and have got all town affairs in their hands, just as they had before; with this aggravation, that now they have a vastly higher degree of resentment against me and the party that adheres to me than before. They say they will withhold a great part
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
of my salary if not all; and it appears that they intend to get me out of town. Query: Since my salary seems to be the great bone of contention, the strife at bot- tom being about money -- who shall have the money voted for preaching? or in one word, whether the Dutch, &c., shall pay any part of my salary? Had I not better give my salary up. and, if those who adhere to me will not maintain me by subscrip- tion, either leave them or preach gratis."
During the following year no money was raised by the town for preaching, and in January, 1769. Dr. Hopkins was, at his own request, dis- missed by a council ; he soon after brought suit against the town for ar- rearages, and was awarded by the court 9146, which sam the town voted to raise in May, 1771. During the 25 years of his ministry in Great Bar rington there were received into the church 116 persons : 45 by recom- mendation from other churches, and 21 by profession, remarkable results when the condition of the inhabitants is considered.
As has already been stated, Dr. Hopkins was ordained at Great Bar- rington, then the North Parish of Sheffield. December 2Sth. 1743, and it was with no little self denial, and with a firm belief that he was needed, that he accepted the call. The first years of his ministry were, upon the whole, satisfactory to himself as well as to his parishioners, anl though his further efforts were attended with little immediate success, still there can be no doubt that his influence for good was far more lasting than he had dad to hope. Says Dr. Edwards A. Park. in his Memoir of Dr. Hopkins : " Could the good man arise from his grave and look out upon the beautiful villages and enterprising population which now distinguish that romantic town, he would rejoice that he once struggled there against the obstacles to its civilization and prayel there for the children and children's children of the pioneers who subdued its wild forests."
Not long after his withdrawal from Great Barrington, Dr. Hopkins removed to Newport, Rhode Island, and became the pastor of the First Congregational Church of that town, where. with the exception of the period of the occupation of Newport by the British, he continued till his death. During his residence at Great Barrington and Newport he published a number of sermons on doctrinal subjects, and, in 1703. his System of Theology was issued by a Boston printer. The latter work had a wide circulation, both in England and America. and at the same time excited no little controversy : his doctrines were called in derision Hopkintonian, or Hopkinsian, which name was accepted by his friends, and is still applied to the orthodox of New England.
But though Dr. Hopkins was a careful student, and frequently en- gaged in doctrinal controversy, his interest in temporal affairs was never abated. It was while residing at Newport that his attention was directed to the evils of negro traffic ; indeed, that town has been called " the great slave market of New England." Nearly all his parishioners, friends, and neighbors, were either owners or importers of negro slaves, and to openly oppose one of the chief sources of the wealth of the community seemed the height of imprudence. He felt that little could be accom-
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TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
plished by such an attempt, and that the unpopularity that would result would greatly impair his usefulness. Says Dr. Park in his Memoirs :
" He is poor and at this time (about 1770) he has, what he never had before. a comfortable salary; shall he forfeit his support? He is the reputed leader of a new school of divines; and shall he expose that school to obloquy, by identifying it with an unpopular assault upon an established institution? He is a preacher of the Gos- pel; and shall he divert the attention of his hearers from spiritual truth to a political scheme? These were the grave questions which he gravely canvassed. At first he doubted. He was a prudent man. But his Hopkinsian divinity was characterized by the principle, that one must sacrifice all his interests in this and the other world if one can thereby promote the welfare of ' being in general.' He believed that if he lifted up his voice in behalf of the bondsmen, he should advance the interests of his race and the honor of his Maker. He offered himself as a sacrifice. He did it de- liberately, solemnly. Anticipating the indignation of his people and the anger of the community, he preached a sermon against the kidnapping and purchasing and retaining of slaves. In the novel, entitled 'The Minister's Wooing, ' Mrs. Stowe has given us an imaginary but without doubt true portrayal of this scene. The poet, Whittier has said, 'It may well be doubted, whether, on that Sabbath day, the angels of God, in their wide survey of His universe, looked upon a nobler spectacle than that of the minister of Newport, rising up before his slave-holding congregation, and demanding, in the name of the Highest, the 'deliverance of the captive and the opening of prison doors to them that were bound! "
As Dr. Hopkins had expected, many were offended and some with- drew their support : but niny others were affected by the truth and evi- dent sincerity of the preacher. Thusencouraged he continued his efforts, by sermons, pamphlets, and personal appeals. Upon one occasion he borrowed the sum requisite to purchase the freedom of a slave in whom he had become interested. His celebrated " Dialogue on Slavery" was reprinted by the New York Manumission Society, and by a vote of that association, of which John Jay was president and Alexander Hamilton secretary, a copy was sent to every member of Congress and the New York Legislature Shortly after Dr. Hopkins was made an honorary member of the society.
Though endowed with a strong will and a vigorous frame his contin- ued and exhausting labors began to show their effect upon his constitu- tion. In his seventy-eighth year he was struck with a paralysis, but partially recovered from his sickness and resumed his parish work. Five years later he suffered from another attack of the disease and died on the 20th of December, 1803. His body was buried in the church yard adjoining his own meeting house. In 1850 a monument was erected to his memory in the Upper Burial Ground at Great Barrington, by Hon. Charles W. Hopkins. It is constructed of Italian marble and bears the following inscription :
"IN MEMORY OF SAMUEL HOPKINS, D. D., FOR MANY YEARS PASTOR OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN THIS PLACE, AN EMINENT TEACHER OF THEOLOGY; WIDELY KNOWN BY HIS ABLE WRITINGS. HE DIED AT NI.WPORT, IN RHODE ISLAND, DECEMBER 20, 1833, AGED S3 YEARS.
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
In personal appearance Dr. Hopkins was tall and broad shouldered. and of a dignified, though not graceful, presence. While in his eightieth year a portrait of him was taken, representing him in his study dress. He is clad in a gown of blue worsted, lined with green plaid or baize, and his head is covered with a high cap of red velvet. He is represented to have had a large head and face, a high forehead, prominent check bones, and a gray or blue eye. There is a tradition " that when with his white. full-bottomed. powdered wig, his three-cornered hat, his silver knee- buckles and shoe-buckles, he walked at the right hand of General Wash- ington, with Governor Arthur Fenner at the left, through the streets of Newport, during Washington's visit to that town, the stature of Hopkins appeared as imposing. although his motions were by no means as pleas- ing, as those of the father of his country."
In connection with the Rev. Dr. Hopkins mention must be made of Rev. David Sanford, a graduate of Yale College, who settled in this town from Milford, Conn., in 1757. and in that year married the daughter of Moses Ingersoll. thus becoming a brother-in-law to Dr. Hopkins. His family had intended him for the ministry, but he had become convinced that he could not be happy or useful in that profession.
Dr. Edwards A. Park, in his Memoir of Dr. Hopkins, states :
" To Who the preaching of Mi. Hopkins appeared contemptible and foolish; and on this ground he justified himself in giving only an occasional attendance on his ministry.
" In this state of hostility to his pastor's theological opinions, it became neces- sary for him to have frequent interviews with Mr. Hopkins in reference to some property which was to be divided between their respective wives. Mr. Sanford was determined to irritate, if possible, the minister who was so much noted for his equable temper. He longed for one victory over that christian patience. Aiming at this result, he proposed such a division of the property as was glaringly unjust to Mrs. Hopkins, and he accompanied his proposal with biting raillery and sarcasm. He succeeded in his plot. Hopkins was excited, and, late in the evening, left his brother's house in anger. But he was unused to such irritation. He soon became ashamed of it. He could not sleep at all during the night. The next morning was very cold, but at an early hour Mr. Sanford looked out of his chamber window, and saw the injured man approaching. On entering the house, Mr. Hopkins requested that the family might be called together; and when all were convened, he acknowi. edged his resentful words during the last evening's interview, implored forgiveness for them, and consented to any reasonable division of the property which his brother might propose. Mr. Sanford was overwhelmed. He knew that he had inveigled the unsuspecting Christian into the resentment of the last evening: he knew that he had given him reason to be indignant, and, although he had felt a transgressor's triumph during the night, he was now assured, by this humble confession, that a pious heart is nobler than worldly tact. He never forgot that morning's visit."
He afterward resumed his study of theology and entered the minis try. Removing to West Medway he became the pastor of the Congre- gational church in that town. Dr. Emmons says of him :
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"He appeared to the best advantage as a speaker, for which his body, as well as his mind, was peculiarly formed. He had a piercing eye, a significant countenance, a majestic appearance, and a strong, clear, melodious voice, which he was able to modulate with ease and propriety. I know no man, of any profession, in the circle of my acquaintance, who surpassed him in natural eloquence."
During his life in Great Barrington he resided on the hill west of the village, where he built the .. Sanford house, " which remains in the pos- session of one of his descendants, Mr. Frederick T. Sanford.
In the files of the County Court at Pittsfield there is a certificate. dated February 15th. 1763, and signed by Thomas Davies, stating that on the 21st day of September preceding, certain individuals at Great Bar- rington " by mutual consent were formed into an assembly or body of people, to be denominated hereafter members of the Church of England." Mr. Davies, who was a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. is quoted as saying in a letter written to the parent society at London. in December. 1764, "I have visited Great Barrington and the parts adjacent. in October last, and shall, if God per- mit, set ont directly for that place, in order to open a very elegant and large church, which these people have created at great expense, and whilst laboring under the severest ill-treatment from their brethren, the dissenters " In June of the following year, he wrote. " On Christmas day I opened the new church at Great Barrington, with a numerons andience, administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to fourteen. and baptism to four children. Mr. Bostwick. a graduate of Yale College. and a candidate for Holy Orders, continues to read prayers and the Rev. Dr. Warner's collection of sermons to the people."
Mr. Bostwick is supposed to have been employed here, about 1764. as a teacher in an institution of higher grade than the common schools. In 1760 he went to England to receive holy orders, and immediately upon his return he was made rector of the church at Great Barrington, and at the same time was placed in charge of missions in other towns of Berk- shire county, and in the adjoining sections of Vermont. New York, and Connecticut. His work was exacting in the extreme, and, extending over so wide a territory, caused him frequent journeys on horseback over the rough and untraveled roads of the frontier settlements. He is said to have baptized S1 adults and 2,274 children during the twenty-three years of his ministry. While returning from " the annual convention of the Diocese at Middletown, Conn .. " he was suddenly taken sick at New Mil- ford, where he died on the 13th of June, 1793, in the fiftieth year of his age. His body was buried in the Lower Cemetery of this town. During a large portion of his ministry there were no services held in the Congre. gational meeting house, and his was the only church in which religions worship was regularly conducted. He was a kind and genial man. in- dustrious and devoted to his work, and his death was without doubt a severe loss to the community as well as to his church.
The residence of Mr. Bostwick was the old brick house above Bung
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
ITill, on the west side of the road to Monument Mountain, built by Jon- athan Nash, in 1962, as is attested by the initials, "J. N.," together with the date in the brick work over the door. Upon a front window of this honse is still to be seen, written with a diamond, the name of one of the rector's daughters. " Clarissa Bostwick."
In the year 1769 the inhabitants of the western part of Great Barring- ton, now Alford, asked to be set off as a separate town. but this request was not granted. Several other attempts were made, and in 1773 a peti- tion to the General Court resulted in an act of incorporation of that town, having its eastern boundary on the west line of Great Barrington; in 1778 Alford was enlarged at the expense of the parent town by receiving the lands lying west of the ridge of Long Pond Mountain; and again about 1819 another, though smaller, tract was added to Alford from the same source.
As early as 1770 a few families had settled in the northeastern part of the town, then known as the Hoplands, but as they were, by the nat- ural features of the -district, separated from the center, at the incorpora- tion of Lee in 1777 they were made a part of that town.
CHAPTER II.
TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON (continued).
The Revolution .- The Shays Rebellion .- Growth of the Village .- General Thomas Ives .-- Incident of the Shays Rebellion .- Isaac Seeley, Esq .- William Cullen Bryant .- In- crease Summer .- Business Interests .- Blue Limestone .- George R. Ives .- Roads and Bridges .- John Williams .- Isaac Van Deusen .- Van Deusenville .- Babylon .- Dean- ville .- Housatonic .- Cone's Library.
W THILE the ill feeling was growing up between the American colo- nies and the mother country, in the years immediately preced- ing the Revolution, Berkshire was by no means behind her sister com- ties in opposition to British oppression. In October, 1767. resolutions were adopted by the people of Boston to promote domestic industries. and to refrain from the importation and consumption of many articles of British manufacture. A copy of these resolutions being received by the selectmen of Great Barrington, a town meeting was held on the 24 of February, 1768, at which it was voted " that the inhabitants of this town will fully comply with the methods gone into by the town of Boston relative to the promoting of industry, frugality, and manufactures." On the 10th of October, of the same year, another meeting was called " to hear the vote of the town of Boston at their town meeting held on the 12th day of September last, relative to the present distressed state of the British Parliament imposing duties on the American Colonies -the dis. solution of the General Assembly of this province, etc., and act and vote thereon as the town shall judge wise and prudent." At this meeting a committee consisting of Timothy Hopkins. William King, jr .. Mark Hopkins, David Ingersoll. and Jonathan Younglove was appointed to draw np an answer to the selectmen of Boston and to join with the com- mittees from the other towns in the county in any action deemed expedi- ent. The town records from November, 1771. to March. 1776, a period of over four years, are unfortunately lost. if ever made. The town clerk during this time was Captain, afterward Major. William King, and the reason of his negligence has never been known. Mr. Taylor suggests that as there were many such omissions in the records of other towns. caution should be assigned rather than negligence : "for with the pros-
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
pect of a rupture with Great Britain, and with the uncertainty of its termination, both towns and individuals were loth to put on record such action as might possibly thereafter be used to their disadvantage." The fact that the files of the town papers of this period are also missing seems in a great measure to confirm this suggestion.
It is related that in the early days of the war a barbecue was held by the patriots upon the summit of Mount Peter, and here after the sports of the day were over their flag was left flying upon the liberty pole erected for the occasion. During the night the tories succeeded in cut- ting it down, but the flag was soon in the hands of the patriots again. who "lashed their pole, with the flag attached. to a tree top, filled the body of the tree with iron spikes, and with prudent watchfulness kept their colors flying despite the tories.
The committee of safety of the town, chosen by the popular party. among other acts, ordered the disarming of all those who sympathized with the British. These directions were carried out, and a number of muskets and other weapons were seized. Later in the war the tories from this and the surrounding towns were frequently committed to the Great Barrington jail, where they were obliged to defray their own expenses. and fines were often imposed upon those who were unwilling to serve in the militia. On the 24th of November, 1777. a town meeting was called "to consider of a list, exhibited by the selectmen. of persons supposed to be enemies to this and the United States, and vote thereon," at which a list of tories was presented and it was voted that " every one of them are now so inimically disposed towards this and the other United States of America that their further residence in this State is dangerous to the publie peace and safety." On the 24th of August of the following year nineteen of the tory inhabitants of this town were compelled to take the oath of fidelity and allegiance to the State before Dr. William Whiting. justice of the peace. Previous to this date several of the more obnoxious had prudently left the town, and their estates were seized by the colle- mittee of safety, and leased under the authority of an act of the General Court. At last the tory element became so small that it ceased to occupy the attention of the people, and on the 12th of December, 1777, an order from the justices of the court was received directing that no more prison- ers should be placed in the jail " unless committed by Legal authority."
A few days after the departure of Colonel Fellows regiment* (April 21st, 1775), Captain Peter Ingersoll raised a company in Great Barring. ton and the adjoining towns, and, marching to the vicinity of Boston. he joined the Ninth regiment under Colonel David Brewer. Other enlist. ments followed at various times throughout the war.
In the summer of 1777. the advance of Burgoyne's forces, with the Indian allies, spread alarm through the county, and volunteers from Berkshire marched to Fort Edward to the aid of General Schuyler. Of these troops Great Barrington furnished seventy nine, " nearly all the
* See page 137.
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TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
able-bodied loyal men" of the town. Their term of service, however, was short, and in less than two months nearly all had returned. In Sep- tember of the same year, Captain Silas Goodrich, with thirty-six volun- teers, proceeded to Saratoga, and joined the army of General Gates. where they remained until after the surrender of General Burgoyne. which took place on the 17th of October.
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