USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
Captain John Strong, a Revolutionary patriot, erected a house on East street. He, and his son of the same name, kepa it as a tavern many years. In 1800 it was purchased by Lemuel Pomeroy, who added to it a third story in place of its gambrel roof attic. Robert Pomeroy, his son, who succeeded him, afterward built a large wing on the sontheast corner.
The John Chandler Williams homestead, on the corner of Park Square and East street, was built by Colonel James Easton. It was pur- chased, about the close of the Revolution, by John Chandler Williams. by whom it was finished. It was removed a little east, to the corner of Wendell avenue, to make room for the court house.
In 1792 Hon. Ashbel Strong built a square mansion on South street. It was owned by his heirs till 1862, when it was purchased by George and · David Campbell.
The Dr. John M. Brewster homestead, East street, on the site now occupied by Russell AAllen's magnificent residence, was built by Colonel Simon Larned prior to 1790.
Thomas Gold erected a large square house on East street. After the death of Mr. Gold it became the summer residence of his son-in-law, Hon. Nathan Appleton, whose daughter married the poet. Longfellow. The subject of Longfellow's poem. .. The old clock on the stairs." stood on the broad landing of the staircase leading from the spacious entrance hall. It has since been the residence of Mrs. T. F. Plunkett, the author- ess. A mansard roof and a more elaborate portico were added to it.
On the east side of South street, a mile below the park, Henry Van Schaack, in 1781, built his mansion, which was for many years the best
310
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
edifice in the town. It was purchased in 1807 by Elkanah Watson, and by Major Thomas Melville in 1816. He was succeeded in the ownership. in 1837, by his son, Robert Melville, and in 1851 it was purchase I by J. R. Morewood. Previous to 1951 it was kept as a boarding house, and numbered among its guests Henry W. Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and President John Tyler.
About a quarter of a mile southeast from the Van Schaack mansion Captain David Bush, some years previous to 1800, created his homestead. In 1852 it was purchased by Herman Melville and by him named "Arrow- Head," from the Indian relies found there. In this house Mr. Melville wrote many of his stories, and among them the " Piazza Tales, " so named from a piazza which the author constantly ocenpied on the north end of the house. The old fashioned broad chimney of this house was made the subject of the author's quaint essay, " My Chimney and E"
In 1767 Woodbridge Little built a cottage near where the Boston & Albany Railroad crosses Beaver street. He occupied this till his death, in 1813.
In the west part, nearly a century since, Captain William Francis built a house, in which he passed his life, and which was occupied by his descendants. Another was built by Robert Francis, another was that of Rev. John Francis, in which the Baptist church was reorganized, and where many of its early services were held. Still another was erected by Mather Wright and was long occupied by Linns Parker.
In the same vicinity the tavern built by Jesse Goodrich and bearing his name, was long kept by him. It was very well built and time made little impression on it.
The greater number of the houses that were standing in 1800 have perished.
On the " Berkshire corner " of North and West streets was a gam- brel-roofed building that was occupied as an inn by Captain John Dick- inson, Darius Larned, and Captain Joseph Merrick, who was the landlord in 1810. He was a federalist, and the democrats became displeased with him and built, on the opposite side of the park, a handsome hotel of three stories. Not to be outdone, Captain Merrick added a third story in place of the gambrel roof on his, and fitted up a fine hall. Solomon Russell and his brother succeeded Captain Merrick in the proprietorship of the inn, which was burned in 1826, and the Berkshire House was built by the Messrs. Russell the next year.
On the opposite corner, formed by South and West streets, was the two story gambrel roofed building occupied in 1800 by James D. Colt, jr., as a dwelling. He was succeeded by Hon. John W. Hulbert.
On East street was a gambrel roof cottage, built by Key. Thomas Allen as a store for his son Jonathan. It was the printing office of three newspapers previous to the Sun. It was removed to North street in 1809.
The "long house" on Williams street, built by Colonel Williams.
311
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
Was afterward owned and occupied by Joseph Shearer, who married Colo iel Williams' widow.
The Ingersoll tavern, famous as General Lincoln's headquarters. stood in the rear of the present corner of North and Depot streets. It was afterward popularly called "Fort Necessity." and the well is still Sometimes called the " Fort Well."
fr. 1800 Dr. Timothy Childs lived in the square flat roofed house on The :IN opposite the present Boston and Albany Railroad depot. This was a part of the ministry lot, purchased by him of the town in 1774.
Of the style of roofs it may be said that gambrel roofs succeeded the log cabins of the first settlers, though some roofs were peaked, and that flat roofs began to come in fashion soon after the Revolution.
The Lombardy poplars, which were formerly abundant here, were introduced by Henry Van Schaack.
In speaking of ornamental trees and shrubs it must be remembered that the primitive forest had not, at that time, wholly disappeared with- in the limits of the present village, and people had not come to cultivate -hrubbery and shade trees as they did in after years, when the grand old forests had disappeared.
The mercantile establishments in Pittsfield at this time were few and umpretending.
On East street, at the corner of Second, was the two story gambrel- roof store of Colonel Joshua Danforth : its gable end facing East street. A little below was a similar store, but of only one story, occupied by Graves & Root.
On the corner of North street and Park place, with the gable en ! and entrance facing on the latter, was the store built by Jonathan Allen, in 1798 ; a plain, neat building with an angular roof. Next north, on the site of the Allen block, was the small one story steep roofed " medi- cine shop, " built in 1796, by Dr. Timothy Childs. On South street. fac ing the west end of Bank row, was built about this time by J. D. & S. D. Colt a handsome wooden store, large for its time, of two stories with an angular roof. Opposite the Colt store on the corner of Bank row and South street, was a similar store which was built by Hon. Ashbel Strong. and occupied by his brother-in-law, John Stoddard.
From the Stoddard store to the house of John Chandler Williams was a vacant space.
At that time the road from Lenox to Linesboro, of which North and South streets were a part, extended through Pittsfield nearly in a straight line, passing through the present site of the high school house, an lover the hill north of Maplewood Institute, and that east of Pontoosue Lake. East and West streets, as now, extended from a point half a mile east of the park, in a straight line, to the Hancock borders. Owing to the swamp east of that point, the highway diverged thence southeast. These intersecting roads, practically only two, may be considered the trunk, or base of the whole system. From North street, about half a
312
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
mile north of Maplewood, a street turned a little to the northwest and passing near the present entrance of the cemetery joined and continued through Cascade street ; forming the avenue by which the people of the North Woods and several of the forge neighborhoods reached the central village. Wahconah street was not yet opened. Farther north a road. crossing the outlet of Pontoosue Lake, wound along its west side. From South street. Williams street-one of the originally reserved roads-was actually opened eastward to the Dalton line. Westward there continued to be an unmade portion until the line reached a point near Osceola vil- Jage. whence it was completed to the foot of the mountain. Beyond the river South Mountain street wound along the base of the hill from which it takes its name. From West street Onoth street ran north to Segment's iron forge. On West street again, east of the river. Mill street led south to Luce's mill. From Williams street Shearer's lane ran south along the east side of the farm which had been owned by Colonel Williams : and from the same street a road ran south and southwest. to " Rock Moun- tain ;" now known as the Sikes district, famous for its very hard and peculiarly-stratified granular quartz.
Northward from Ehn street, extended Dickinson street, or the east road to Lanesboro. There were some other roads in various parts of the town ; but the lack of recognizable landmarks would render an attempt to describe them unintelligible to most readers.
Between 1800 and 1812 the appearance of Park square had been greatly changed, although it was still an open ungraded space through which roads. dividing at the head of East street ran to West street and to the corner of North street. The old Elm had but a single companion. which stood in the southeast corner of the square. When the first sol- diers for the war of 1812 entered Pittsfield they found a moderately compact central village with a brisk country business. The north side of the square. in addition to the church and the town house, had on the corner of North street the " elegant store" built by Simeon Griswold : a plain wooden structure, which long held its place : being occupied by Josiah Bissell & Son. and by John C. West & Brother. The Pittsfield Hotel had taken the place of the printing office on the east side. On the sonth. next to the grounds of John Chandler Williams, stood the Female Academy. Then came the Berkshire Bank building, the " book store" of J. & R. Warriner, and the " medicine store" of Henry James & Co .. Captain Campbell's coffee house and the two-story Stoddard store ocen pied by Nathan Willis & Son. David Campbell and James Buel had succeeded J. D. & S. D. Colt in the store built by them on the west side of the square. North of this, on the south corner of West street, still stood the gambrel-roof cottage owned by John W. Hulbert, who had collected on the premises materials for a handstone stone mansion, when the failure of the Berkshire Bank dissipated this, with many another pleasant Pittsfield hope. North of West street, steel Captain Menick's
-
.
٠
٠
7
٢٠
1
"
11
1
-
THE PARK IN 1807.
313
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
inn, and the Bush building with its two tenements occupied respectively by a shoemaker and a goldsmith.
It will thus be seen that the four sides of Park square were pretty closely surrounded with buildings chiefly devoted to business purposes. But the business of the town was far from being confined to Park square. Colonel Danforth still continued his store on East street, and John B. Root and James Mcknight occupied that built by Colonel Larned. Elder Robert Green, having recently purchased the stock of Ahab Jinks, kept quite an extensive assortment on Elm street, as Horace Allen did on West street. near Lake Onota.
Early in 1809 Abner Stevens removed the drum making business which he had for some years carried on at Hancock, to Pittsfield, where he built a shop on North street, between Fenn street and the Boston and Albany Railroad.
In 1815 Edward A. Newton visited Pittsfield, and married a daughter of John C. Williams, to whom the town was indebted for its common. not then known as the Park. Mr. Newton took a deep interest in the welfare of the Old Elm. which then spread its foliage in full vigor and luxuriance ; and to protect it from the teeth of horses he, with a friend. heaped around the trunk a pile of large stones, which rude device an- swered its purpose for a time.
Early in Jime, 1824, the first attempt was made by the citizens to improve the common. Three or four hundred days' work were volun. teered by the people, with teams and implements. At its next meeting the town voted thanks to the people living outside of the central highway district, and to the Hancock Shakers. for their voluntary service in level. ing the public square and grading East street.
In 1825 Mr. Newton made Pittsfield his permanent home, and soon commenced an effort to excite an interest in the improvement of the central square. Many citizens cordially joinel in the movement, and in 1826 the town appointed a committee of five, to be joined by the same number appointed by the citizens of the village, to consider certain coll. templated improvements. Nathan Willis, Abel West, Jonathan Yale Clark, Butler Goodrich, and Charles Churchill were the committee on the part of the town : S. D. Col. S. M. MeKay, E. R. Colt, on the part of the village.
It was determined to enclose a park in the center of the square, and to plant it with trees. Nathan Willis, Joseph Merrick, and Abel West were made a sub committee to superintend the planting of the trees. This was done in the spring of 1997. Mr. West superintended the plant. ing. and performed, with his own harl., a large portion of the labor.
In the same year many fine trees were set of South street where others had been previously planted by Captain John Dickinson. Thomas B. Strong. Dr. H. H. Childs, William Hollister, Henry C. Brown, and others.
Mr. E. A. Newton contributed $80 toward the expense of this im-
314
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
provement of the park ; the citizens raising an equal amount. So much of the labor, however, was performed without payment that the expendi- ture of the whole sum was nunecessary ; and two years afterward the surplus was, upon Mr. Newton's suggestion, applied, with an additional subscription raised by Mr. S. L. Russell, to the building of sidewalks on Park square ; the first built in town by public effort.
War against Great Britain was declared by Congress in June, 1812. This declaration was received with joy by the democratic majority in Pittsfield, while the federalists, after a brief hesitation on the part of some of their number, arrayed themselves in opposition to the war, and the violence of party feeling became even more intense than before.
Among the prominent and active members of the federal patty in Pittsfield were : Woodbridge Little, Captain Charles Goodrich. John W. Hulbert, John Chandler Williams, Thomas Gold. Deacon Charles Gool rich, Joseph Merrick, and Dr. Daniel James : and of active younger men : Lemuel Pomeroy, Theodore Hinsdale, jr., James D. Colt. Butler Goodrich, David Campbell. the Warriner. Jason Clapp, Joseph Bissell. and James Buel.
Among the democratic leaders were : Ezekiel Bicon. Simon Lirned. Jonathan Allen, Ist and 2d, Dr. Timothy aal Dr. H. H. Chills, Joha B Root, Captain John Dickinson, Phinehas Allen, Elkanah Watson, and Joseph Shearer. There were others among the democrats, less active. but always vigilant and reliable. Among them were all the intheatial farmers of the west part. Oliver Root. Joel Stevens, a long list by the name of Francis, Jesse Goodrich, the Churchills, the Hubbadly, the Parkers, and nearly all whose names were on the roll of the West Part militia ; in the east were the Bushes, Gunns, Fairiells, Nobles, all Hor rieks ; at the north the Merrills ; in the center the Ingersolls, the Hollis. ters, Oramel Fanning. William Clark, Simeon Griswold, and others.
'The war gave great promise of prosperity to its opponents who were engaged in the manufacture of cloths, and to one among them. Mr. Pomeroy, who was a manufacturer of guus, it afforded the prospect. which was realized, of an excellent market for his muskets.
Another benefit which Pittsfield derived from the war was the estab. lishment here, in 1812, of a cantonment of United States troops, followed the next year by a depot for prisoners of war. From these there re- sulted a large expenditure of money here, which was especially welcome after the then recent losses in the town.
On the passage of the act of Jannary, 1812, for raising 25.000 aldi. tional United States troops, a general rendezvous for recruits was estab. lished at Pittsfield, Captain A. J. Bneklin, of Cheshire, being played in command.
On the 23d of May Rev. William Allen derded to the United States. for $800, one acre of land on the east side of North street, next above the present location of the Boston & Albany Railroad. Upon this site stood the gambrel-roofed cottage which had been removed from East
315
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
street to give place for the Pittsfield Hotel. This was now fitted up as a residence for the commandant of the post. and continued to be orcu- pied for that purpose until Pittsfield ceased to be a military station.
On the 30th of May General Dearborn visited Pittsfield and arranged for the purchase by the United States of thirteen acres of level ground about one hundred rods north from the park. This was afterward in- creased to twenty-six acres and ninety-three rods.
The northern part of the thirteen acres purchased by General Dear- born was covered by a beautiful grove. A few rods south of the edge of this wood, on the spots since occupied by the chapel and two boarding houses of Maplewood Young Ladies' Institute, were ranged the barracks; three plain wooden buildings, each three stories high and 130 feet long : with piazzas along the fronts of the different stories.
The west building was the officers' quarters; the past that of the non-commissioned officers and privates. The middle was used for vari- ous purposes. This was the arrangement for the first year. Subse- quently some changes occurred, incident to the use of the Cantonment as a depot for prisoners of war. In the rear were two barns of the same length as the barracks, and two stories high ; it being in contemplation to form here a regiment of cavalry.
Captain John Dickinson contracted to erect and complete these build- ings within sixty days, and fulfilled his contract. A plain two story building was afterward erected in the southwest corner of the thirteen acres for a hospital, and, on North street. the thrifty politician and far- mer, Joseph Shearer, built his sutler's shop.
Long before the buildings were completed the camp and garrison equipage and 2,000 stand of arms were received.
The first detachment of soldiers, seventy men of Captain Harris' com- pany of light dragoons, arrived on the 24th of June, and they were greeted with that enthusiasm which always hails the first appearance of troops on the breaking out of a war. The troops remained several months at the cantonment, and maintained the good opinion of the citizens, with whom the soldiers mingled as freely as was consistent with good discipline.
South of the unfinished barracks the cantonment grounds covered a beautiful level area of eight or nine aeres, which had been Rev. Mr. Al. len's meadow ; and upon this the dragoons encamped-as other detach- ments afterward did, from time to time, when the barracks were insuf- ficient.
To all the soldiers who were afterward quartered here the hospitali- ties of the people in Pittsfield and neighboring towns were liberally ex- tended. In return for these hospitalities the officers began early and kept up till the close of the war a round of balls, which, if gal- lantry and beauty could make them so, were, beyond doubt, brilliant : though gay calicoes were far in excess of muslins, and silks were seldom seen.
This cantonment soon became the rendezvous for many troops, and
316
. HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
a commissary station was established here in charge of Major Thomas Melville, jr. He established his official residence in the gambrel roofed cottage purchased of Rev. William Allen.
The establishment of a commissary station and a depot for prisoners of war in connection with the cantonment furnished a cash market for almost every kind of surplus product which the county or the neighbor. ing region could supply, and contributed much toward making Pittsfield a local business center. Major Melville's advertisements, commencing June 17th, 1812, with "six of seven hundred yards of yard-wide low- cloth." called, before they ended. for every variety of cloth, for leather, iron, beef, pork, grain of all kinds, vegetables, hay, wood, wagons. horses, and whatever else an army could consume or use. William Hol- lister and Oramel Fanning became contractors in 1818 for supplying the local commissariat.
It may here be stated that, although no medical college existed here then, there were students of anatomy, and on the night of the 20th of September, 1813, the body of Joseph Childs, a soldier that had been buried in the town burial ground, was disinteried and carried away for dissection. The commandant of the cantonment offered a reward of fifty dollars for the detection of the resurrectionist, but, although there was little doubt of his identity, no legal proof against him could be obtained. A similar case occurred afterward and a guard was placed over the graves. Subsequently interments were made in the cantonment grounds where a plat was set apart for that purpose.
On the 20th of April. 1813, Jonathan Allen was appointed deputy quartermaster general. with the rank of captain, and detailed for service at Pittsfield. The expenditures by Captain Allen in his department were of course in addition to those made by Major Melville. Indeed, they formed a large part of the money which the war brought to Pittsfield. His estimates for the year 1813. in which the requirements were much less than in the succeeding year, were $24, 400 ; the items being for horses. wood, straw, powder, transportation, provender, and contingent expenses. For the month of December, 1814, the estimate for the same items, with the exception of the purchase of horses, was 8766; and for the month of January, 1815, the estimate was $$15 ; for the month of February, 1815. $1,692.
In the summer of 1813 it was determined to make Pittsfield a depot for prisoners. These were at first quartered in the barracks, but as the number increased it became necessary to provide other quarters for them. Major Melville determined to remodel for that purpose the two barns that stood on the grounds of the cantonment. He repaired to the house of Captain Hosea Merrill, who was an extensive lumber dealer and builder. and moreover an ardent democrat and supporter of the war, and urged him to undertake the task at once. But it happened to be Sunday, and Captain Merrill would not so much as talk upon the subject : his many years of service in the Revolutionary army having not in the last weak-
317
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
ened his New England scruples concerning labor on the Sabbath. On Monday, however, without questioning the probability of pay from the government, he began work in earnest.
The specifications required, for two of the rooms, windows protected by heavy iron gratings : and around the entire building a plank fence two inches thick, twelve foot high, and with stout hemlock posts sunk five feet in the earth. The plank was as yet all in the log, and some of the logs were standing in the forest. The iron was at Boston, and the work- men were nearly all yet to be engaged. But loggers were briskly set at work ; the saw mill at Pontoosne ran night and day ; the prisonersal- ready in barracks were pressed into service : the iron was received and the gratings were made by blacksmith Ezekiel Bates. The last stroke of the workman's hammer was heard just as the first squad of new prisoners marched into the barracks.
Dr. Timothy Childs, and his son, Dr. H. H. Childs, both of Pittsfield, were surgeons in charge of the prisoners at this depot.
When the army was reduced to a peace basis, in 1815, the following officers from Pittsfield were retained : Captain Reynolds M. Kirby, aid to General Ripley : Lieutenant Thomas Childs, Captain David Perry, First Lieutenant William Browning. First Lieutenant (captain by brevet ) Benjamin F. Larned, Surgeon's Mate E. L. Allen. There were also two officers retained who had married Pittsfield ladies, and made Pittsfield for a time their home: General Eleazer W. Ripley and Captain (major by brevet) Benjamin F. Watson.
Captain Thomas Childs, son of Dr. Timothy Childs, was born in 1795. During the war he served in the heavy artillery. He continued in the army, serving with credit in the Seminole and Mexican wars, and at his death held the rank of brigadier general.
Captain Larned was the son of Darius Larned and Eunice Williams Larned. daughter of Deacon William Williams, the noted Dalton loval. ist. He continued in the army through life: and at his death. in 1862, held the post of paymaster general. He was buried in the Pitts- field Cemetery.
Dr. Elisha Lee Allen, son of Rev. Thomas Allen, was born in 1753. and died at Pas Christien. Lonisiana, September 5th, 1817 ; falling a victim to his conscientious and zealous performance of duty in attending upon soldiers suffering from yellow fever. even when his professional associates assured him that he needed rest and medical assistance for himself.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.