USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 32
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The valuation of the town in 1875, according to statistics, was 8266. - 130 ; but as established by the acts of 1876, 8279,926. Value of land, 8137, - 112; buildings. $83,900 ; domestic animals, $40,158 : fruit trees and agri- cultural implements, about $4,800. Butter and cheese were formerly leading prodnets, but they have fallen off of late, and more attention is given to the raising of stock, although the amount raised is less than it was years ago.
Most of the first settlers came from Connectient, but in some instances it is difficult to give the name of the town from which they came. The settlement of London must have commenced about 1760. The first child born in town. it is affirmed. was Paul Larkcom, whose father came from Enfield, Conn., and settled in the southeastern part of the town. Ephraim Pelton came from Granville, Mass .. and settled in the southeastern part of the town. David and John Kibbe came from Enfield, also Isaac and Stephen Kibbe, and settled near where Mrs. Maria Parker now lives. Jacob Cook and others of the Cook family lived on the North Becket road. Timothy Whitney came from Petersham, Mass. Smith Marey came from Woodstock, Conn .. and lived on the place now occupied by William Twining. Lieutenant Jonathan Norton came from Suffield, Conn., and settled on the " Great Road from Boston to Albany," west of the road leading from East Otis to Otis Center. Isaac Phelps settled in the north- eastern part of London. Abner Morley lived near Algeria. John Fay lived on or very near the road leading from Otis to East Otis. Jabezand Joseph Kingsbury lived. one east and the other west of Hay's Pond.
259
TOWN OF OTIS.
Adonijah Jones and Miles Jones lived on the place now owned by Charles Clark. They came from Palmer, Mass., but were originally from Hebron, Conn. James Breckenridge, also from Palmer, lived in the northwestern part of the town. Robert Hunter settled on Farmington River, about two miles north from the Center. Thomas Ward lived a little west, on Ward Brook, and from him the stream takes its name. Daniel Sumner lived a little west of the Center. Jonathan Strickland came from New London, Conn., and settled a short distance northerly from the Center. His father, Samnel Strickland. came from England. Agur Hyde settled near the Chester Cornwall place. Jonah Webb settled in the western part of the town. Colonel Samuel Pickett came from Sandisfield and settled in the center of the town ; also Basil Seymour, who came from Granby, Conn. The date of settlement it is impossible to ascertain, but those mentioned were among the first. Ichabod Brooks was from Middletown ; Elijah Messenger from Barkhampsted, Conn .; Heman Dibble from Salmon Brook, Conn. The three last mentioned settled not far from 1790. Arden Judd lived in West Otis.
The first settlers were a hardy race of people, and inured themselves to labor. They were courteous, friendly, and hospitable. They were spirited in action and persevering in duty. Living within their means. producing nearly all they needed to eat or drink, and manufacturing most of their clothing and other articles of convenience and use, they were, consequently, independent. They were regular in their attendance on the ordinances of the church and were sincere and devout in their worship. Tithing men were chosen annually to enforce a proper observ- ance of the Sabbath. People who quartered themselves among them. with no visible means of energy to secure their support, were warned out of town. Home made clothing was good enough for them. False pride was no part of their nature. They had their holidays and seasons of amusement. and enjoyed them with a hearty zest. They held tenaciously to their opinions, and their doctrinal orthodox belief was deep rooted and abiding, where rooted at all. Their industrious, steady going life, com- bined with their simple yet ample and nutritious fare, were con lucive of longevity, and many lived to extreme age. A few of these are noted. Adonijah Jones died in 1820, aged 72; Isaack Finch, 1822, aged 78; Ebenezer Bartlett, 1824, aged 79; Mr. Penfield, 1825, aged 93; Colonel Jonathan Norton, 1830, aged 91; Mrs. Adonijah Jones, 1831. aged 99 : Mrs. Penfield, 1834, aged 102 years, six months: Mrs. Peter Strickland. 1837, aged 93; Richard Chase, 1843, aged 94 ; Deacon Benjamin Barber, 1843, aged 80 ; Isaac Phelps, aged 96 ; John Cornish, 1841, aged 93 ; Mrs. Phinehas Jones, 1842, aged 96: William S. Crittenden, a Revolutionary soldier, 1842, aged 88 : John Davison, a soldier of the Revolution, aged 79 ; Daniel Sumner, 1838. aged 80. There have been a few violent and accidental deaths in town. In 1820, Ozias Case's house was burned. and he perished in the flames. Jonathan Strickland, aged 39, was thrown from his horse, striking a rock, and lived but a short time. Ellen S.
260
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
Turner was accidentally shot in 1872 and lived but a short time. A daughter of Lafayett Proper was burned to death. Hannah M Hazard was murdered in her own house, by a Frenchman, in 1876. September 7th, 1862, a triple. most atrocious, and diabolical murder was perpe- trated near Cold Spring. Mrs. Emily L. Jones, wife of George Jones, and her two children, George A. and Sarah E., aged respectively four and two years, went to a field to pick berries. They were there murdered, their bodies were concealed, and were only found after a long search. Thomas and James Callendar (colored), father and son, were arrested; the latter was finally convicted on his own confession and suffered the extreme penalty of the law.
One of the first roads through the town was the " Great Boston and Albany road," one of the greatest thoroughfares of the day. In 1776 the North road to Becket was established, and May 19th, of the same year, a road was laid along the east side of Great Pond. About 1778 a road was established from Moses Kibbe's by Fall River to the Farmington River. The Tenth Massachusetts Turnpike was built in 1800; it was the stage road from Pittsfield to Hartford, and Oliver Couch was mail carrier over it for many years. Not far from this time a county road from Otis to West Otis was granted.
The first post office was established in 1817 ; Basil Seymour was post- master. Another was established at East Otis in 1828, Elijah Owen, post- master. There was one at Cold Spring a short time, but that and the one at East Otis are now extinct.
There is a post office at West Otis ; a Mr. Ward is postmaster.
At the time of the Revolution the population of Otis-Called Loudon then-must have been small, for in 1781 they were called upon to furnish three men as their proportion, and the record shows the names of but forty-seven persons to take them from. It appears that they were zealous in the cause, furnished their quota, voted money for relief of soldiers families and furnished promptly their quota of beef for the army. The records give no light in regard to the service, if any, of the people of the town in the war of 1812. They voted in Bethlehem to petition for a re- moval of the Embargo Act, August 29th. 1803.
During the late Rebellion the people of this town were thoroughly aroused, patriotic, energetic, zealous, unshrinking, and ready for duty. The following names of those who died in the service are upon the rec- ord : William A. Morehouse, Edward J. Bing, William C. Soule, Robert Rice. Thomas Clark, Curtiss L. Kibbe, Charles P. Snow, Elijah L. Flint, Edwin G. Taylor, Orlow Hunt, Myron Nichols, Elijah M. Morse, Sheldon E. Gibbs. Charles Van Housen, Joshua Rodman ; fifteen in all ; two de- serted.
'Schools in this town have generally been quite liberally sustained, and they will not suffer in comparison with those of other mountain towns. The population in 1860 was 998, which had fallen off to 785 in 1880. Of this number there are 175 pupils between five and fifteen years
261
TOWN OF OTIS.
of age, and the average attendance is 143. The sum of $1.000 is usually raised by tax for school purposes.
Early in the settlement of the town of London the records show it was customary to hire different ministers to preach and hold meetings either in the school houses or private dwellings. About 1772 a person by the name of George Troop, of Throop. as it is sometimes written, came among them with ministerial pretensions, claiming a license to preach. An attempt was made to ordain him, and he endeavored to organize a church, and succeeded. This done, he caused deacons to be chosen, but upon calling a council, in 1775. it was decided that he had no license to preach. This, as appears from record, caused disquietude. A meeting was called and they concluded to dispense with his services, and though the time of service-five years -had not expired by several months, they voted he might have the land grant, and they would be just as well satis- fied as if he fulfilled the contract ; whereupon he left. went into the army. and the church dissolved. About that time a Rev. Mr. Woodbridge was employed as a candidate. February 2d. 1779, a regular church compris- ing seven members was formed. They raised money to hire preaching. but failed to settle a minister. Pastors in neighboring towns occasionally assisted them, and thus kept up their church ordinances. Roger Adams was the officiating candidate in 1805, and up to 1810 there had been in all 101 admissions to the church in Loudon. There had been frequent at- tempts to build a church in the town, and assistance was solicited and efforts made to unite a section of Blanford with Loudon for the pur- pose. This failing, they voted, in 1806, to raise $1,000 for a church building, and fixed on a site. This project was defeated at a subsequent meeting. In 1806, the first meeting house in London was built, Blanford people in the vicinity uniting. The money was raised by subscription, but before the church was entirely finished it was burned. as was thought. by an incendiary act. Meetings were then held in the large school house. One Elihn Buttles, dish turner. a sanguine Methodist, officiated. The inhabitants in that section finally built a church in 1815, with help from neighboring towns, and surmounted it with the tallest steeple then of any meeting house in the county. It was a union house, but was used and controlled by the Methodists. Rev. Mr. Pease became the pastor in 1817. After two or three years he was succeeded by a Mr. Hawley. He in turn was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Shepard, and next came Rev. Mr. Upton, and services were kept up under different pastors for several years longer. Then came a decline, and the old storm-beaten, weather bleached meeting house has gone down.
About 1806 the citizens of Loudon and Bethlehem united and were known as the " United Congregational Society." Preliminary steps for the building of a church had been taken prior to the union. May 21st, 1810, their committee reported to build a church. to be of same construc- tion as the one in Winsted. Conn., and. to maintain harmony, that it be built by subscription and " seats be sold by vendue." The dimensions
202
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
were to be 45 by 50 feet. Their report was favorably entertained, carried out, and the house was dedicated in the fall of 1813.
The Otis church was first organized, February 2d, 1799, by Zadoch Hun, of Blanford, the parties being Jacob Cook and wife. Jonathan Shepard, Sammel Clark and wife, and Jonathan Norton and wife, seven in all. After dedication they received some assistance from the Berk- shire Association. Rev. Aaron Kinney and others preached till June 28th. 1815, when Rev. Jonathan Lee, from Salisbury, Conn., was ordain- ed their pastor. There were several revivals-a powerful one in 1827 --- during his pastorate. He remained till 1831, and was succeeded by Rov Rufus Pomeroy, of Chester, who remained till Angust 6th, 1835. The desk. for a time, was then supplied by Rev. Asahel Gaylord and Rev. Mr. Linsey. Rev. Hugh Gibson, of Salisbury, Conn., held the pastoral position from 1840 to 1850, and was succeeded by Rev. Heury Austin. of Becket. He was followed by Rev. Mr. Case, and he in turn by Rev. Mr. Page. Rev. Thomas Hall came in 1856, stayed till 1864, and was follow- ed by Rev. Mr. Abbott, of Blanford, till Rev. Henry W. Leonard took his place in 1865. He died October 17th. 1865. aged 26. He was from Blanford. Rev. A. H. Dashield, of Stockbridge, then officiated occasion- ally, till Rev. Mr. Atwood, of Blanford, took the pastoral position. In 1870 Rev. E. A. Abbott, of Boston, came, and was succeeded by Rev. Irem Smith, who was dismissed May 1st, 1877. Rev. J. C. Seagrave, the present pastor, came April 1st, 1878
A few of the people living in the north part of Sandisfield taking umbrage at Rev. Mr. Storrs' opposition to the Shays rebellion, with- drew and united with citizens in the western part of Bethlehem in form- ing a Baptist church, which is treated more fully in the history of San disfield.
January 1st, 1828, an Episcopal society was formed in the center of the town, and a house of worship was erected. Benjamin C. C. Parker was first rector. Other clergymen who succeeded him were Thomas S. Randolph, who preached there in 1840, Rev. Daniel G. Wright, Rev. Ethan Allen, and Calvin Wolcott ; and also a Mr. Watson was rector for a time. Mr. Wolcott and Mr. Allen both in turn kept a select school in addition to their pastoral duties.
About 1830 the Otis church numbered about 130 members ; 90 attend . ants of the Sabbath school and ten of the Bible class. After that time their number remained nearly the same up to 1860.
Lester Filley was the principal lawyer of the town for years. He was man of good legal ability, and a successful practitioner, but his chirog- raphy was a puzzle to every one attempting to decipher it. Frederick T. Wallace practiced there for a time, and Marshal Wilcox, of Pittsfield, who studied law under Mr. Filley. Norman K. Strickland has been a counsellor there for many years, but not a member of the bar.
Mr. Filley came from Bloomfield, or Bloomington. Conn .. and first. studied with David B. Curtiss, of Sandistield. He had two sons, William
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TOWN OF OTIS.
T. and Henry, both lawyers. William T. is practicing in Pittsfieldl. Henry practiced in Huntington, Mass., and died there.
One of the first physicians in Otis was Dr. Eliphalet Colt. Dr. Ed- mund Bancroft practiced there about 1810. White G. Spencer, Adoni- jah White, and Dr. Watson Sumner, a son of Daniel Sumner, of Otis. were practitioners. He came from Hoosick. N. Y. Dr. Eber West came from Connecticut. He and Dr. Sumner were very skillful. Dr. Charles H. Little came from Middlefield, Mass. Dr William Baird was a very skillful practitioner, had fine literary attainments, and was eccentric. Dr. Warham L. Fitch practiced several years, and Dr. Henry C. Spelman. of Granville, who studied with Dr. Holcomb of that town. Dr. Bidwell, of Monterey, practiced there a short time. Dr. Calvin B. King came from Ware, Mass., and returned to the same place. Dr. Champlin traveled and lectured, and made a specialty of removing certain parasites from the system. Dr. Pease is the present physician at Otis Center, and Dr. Morse at West Otis.
Among the magistrates of the town. past and present. are found the names of Timothy Whitney, Paul Larkcom, Adonijah Jones, Samuel Pickett, Lester Filley, Basil Seymour, Elam P. Norton. Alanson Critten- den, Norman K. Strickland. Henry Seymour, Hiram Sears, Pearl S. Tinker. and John Merritt.
Philo Upson. it is affirmed, was a native of Otis. He had the con- tract for furnishing the stone for Girard College. He perished on Long Island Sound at the burning of the steamer Lerington.
Henry O. Marey is a physician, standing high in the profession. and practicing in Boston or Cambridge. He is a genius and a man noted for skill. He was the inventor of rubber tubes for insertion in deep flesh wounds, such as were used in the case of President Garfield.
CHAPTER NVH.
TOWN OF PERU.
BY REV. A. B. WHIPPLE.
Purchases and Sales, -First Town Meeting .- Ecclesiastical .- Peru During and Succeeding the Revolution .- Town Officers in 1800 .- Change of Name .- New Meeting House .- Wolf Hunt .- First Births and Marriages .- Biographical.
P ERU is a town on the Green Mountain range, having a severe climate. and an uneven surface with a hard and stony soil, better for graz- ing than for tillage. While the ingredients of the war for American in- dependence were steaming in the great caldron of public opinion, and petty custom house officers were searching the peaceable homes in Bos- ton and vicinity, the beech, the birch, and the maple. as well as the ever- green spruce and hemlock, were bending to the winter blasts or shad- ing with their summer foliage the mupurchased area of this vertebrate town of Berkshire county. In 1760 the English government transferred from New Jersey, Governor Francis Bernard, and made him governor of the province of Massachusetts. In 1762 letters written by Sir Francis Bernard were intercepted with plans for changing the American govern- ments ; charging the colonists with aiming at absolute independence : counseling the making of several smaller provinces into one large and re- spectable, and more easily governed ; the establishment of hereditary nobility, and the right of parliament to tax the colonies. Having been honored by a second and enlarged governmental appointment. he thought perhaps of a higher title than his present one, and so far took interest in the unsold lands of the province as to seek to be a real estate owner in the province he governed. So, in 1962, in the second year of his power. he, with Oliver Partridge, of Hatfield, and Elisha Jones, of Weston, pur- chased. June 2d. the township No. 2. According to the conditions of purchase sixty-three settling lots were surveyed, forming two tiers of farms each side of the road as it now lies over the mountain, including the old road for two miles west of the hill. Actual settlers were slow in locating. No purchase is recorded among the deeds till after a tripartito
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agreement was recorded, June Sth, 1767, by which each took twenty lots : three by original purchase to be public lots. Two days later, June 10th, 1767. Peter Thomson bought of Oliver Partridge No. 25, which is the third lot east from Worthington, and on the north of the road. On the same day Eleazer Smith bought of Oliver Partridge No. 58, the second lot east of the present Hinsdale line, and south of the road. The same day Samuel Marble bought of Oliver Partridge lot No. 39, the sixth lot east from Worthington, and second tier north of the road. March 22d. 1768, Daniel Thomson bought of Oliver Partridge lot No. 26, directly south of his brother Peter's : and the same day Michael Darling bought of Oliver Partridge No. 27. directly sonth of No. 26. August 31st. Eben- ezer Pierce bought of Elisha Jones Nos. 10 and 54 : 10 is now in Hinsdale. and 54 is the second west of the meeting house, and north of the road. November 19th, Abraham Blackman took a deed from Governor Bernard of No. 57, the next lot west of 54. November 2d. Nathan Thomson had a deed from Oliver Partridge of No. 30. next west of 25. November 24th. Ebenezer Steward bought of Oliver Partridge No. 34, where the east school house now is. December 21st. John Roads got No. 32. second farm directly north. December 28th, Cornelius Thayer bought Nos. 8, 52, and 53 of E. Jones, S being south of 10 in Hinsdale, 53 and 52 in line south of 54 : Ezekiel Little, No. 22, October 22d. 1769 : also 118 and 17, May 17th. 1770 ; Beriah Smith, No. 59. December 7th, 1770 : William Stephens, No. 21, December 7th, 1770; Thomas Perkins, No. 31, December 7th, 1770 : Henry Badger, No. 37, August 14th, 1770 : John Cole, No. 115, October 22d, 1771 ; Nathan Fisk, 221 acres. April 29th, 1772 : Phineas Watkins, one half of No. 43, July 28th. 1773 ; William B. Townsend. No. 15. July Sth, 1773: John Fisk, one half of No. 53, July 28th, 1773: Joseph Huntington, Nos. 75. 110 and 113, August 7th, 1776 ; William Fletcher. No. 7, November 4th. 1778. David Potter sold No. 83 to Levi Pierce. of Spencer, for $2,000, current money, March 8th, 1779.
By an act of incorporation Cornelius Thayer was empowered by W. M. Williams, justice of the peace, to call the first town meeting in August. 1771. Deacon Nathan Fisk was moderator ; Nathaniel Stowell. town clerk : Cornelius Thayer, Michael Darling, and Captain Francis Miller, selectmen and assessors : Cornelius Thayer, treasurer ; Ebenezer Sweetland, constable ; Henry Badger, sealer of weights and measures : James Watkins, sealer of leather : David Miller. Nathan Watkins. Phineas Watkins. Peter Thomson. surveyors of highways : Jedediah Benton, Thomas Whitney, fence viewers : Abraham Blackman, Daniel Walker, field drivers : Ebenezer Pierce, Henry Badger, tithing men : Wilson Torry and Moses Little, deer reeves ito enforce the law forbidding the killing of deer between December 21st and August Ist) ; Sylvanus Smith and John Lesener, surveyors of clap wards and shingles : Edward Kibby and Josiah Fisk, hog reeves. At this same first town meeting it was " voted to hear Mr. Tracy preach a longer time." and chose a com- mittee to confer with him about preaching. Adjourned two weeks and
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
met in the house of Nathan Watkins and chose for tithing man. Andrew Belcher, and for hog reeves, Joseph Watkins and Nathan Thomson. Of this meeting Captain Francis Miller was moderator. "Voted to employ Mr. Tracy four Sabbaths longer and SS to pay him : also a book for town records : also that the place of meeting on Sundays to be at the house of Ebenezer Pierce." This house was about three quarters of a mile west of the present meeting house, on the old road ; a place tasteful for situ- ation, commanding a broad prospect over the lowlands and hilltops of Hinsdale and Dalton, a spot well worthy of a visit by tourists and anti- quarians.
In October they voted to hear Mr. Tracy four Sundays more, and to meet at the house of Thomas Whitney : also to empower the selvermen to survey and lay out a road from Worthington to Ashuelot Equivalent. This meeting was at the house of Thomas Whitney.
February, 1772, they gave Mr. Tracy a call, with salary of 93%, to begin three years after his ordination : to raise it year by year as the val- uation of ratable estate increased till it should be $50. and to remain at that so long as his ministry among them should continue. He was or- dained the second Wednesday of the following April.
The first schools seem to have been organized in December, 1772, three of them, for which $14, 195. were voted. They included all Part- ridgefield. east, middle, and west districts. Even then apprehensions of a warlike nature appear in a vote " to procure ammunition when there is occasion," and in frequent petitions forabatement of taxes. In 1773 the voted allowances of land to certain farms, in lieu of roads, show that the allowances for roads in the first survey were not used. all of them, in the roads actually constructed. Meetings that year were held in the house of Josiah Babcock and in Nathan Watkins' barn. A road was made also in the north part of the town, from Worthington to Gageboro, by Sam- uel Wilcox's house, which was used as a hotel for many years. In 1:74 "voted twenty shillings to Charles Ward for the use of his house for meetings for one year." In August this entry is found :
" Whereas the Proprietors in Partridgefield have given bond to build a meeting house in said town, the town taking into consideration that the Proprietors' building a meeting house as large as would be reasonable for them to build would not be sufficient for the town any long term of time, the Proprietors having agreed to set up a frame 50 by 40 and of sufficient hight for galleries, and cover it, and lay the lower floor which we judge will be sufficient to answer their bonds, therefore voted that when the Proprietors have completed the same according to their vote all that then remains to be done in finishing said house shall be done by the town in equal pro- portions as other town rates."
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