USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 1 > Part 8
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Though the lieutenant partially recovered from his wounds they were ultimately the cause of his death, which took place at Great Bar- rington, October 7th, 1880.
As the result of a conscription in August, 1863. 76 men were drafted. but by payment of commutation fees, rejection, and other means, the number was finally reduced to about seven.
Other calls for men made at different times during the war were an- . swered by further volunteers, reenlistments, and drafts.
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
Fifteen Great Barrington men joined the Forty-seventh Massachu- setts and saw hard service.
Aside from the soldiers above mentioned Great Barrington was rep- resented in other regiments by the following gentlemen : Rev. Horace Winslow who served as chaplain in the Fifth Connecticut. Rev. Jesse A. Penniman, as chaplain in a Long Island regiment, Dr. Samuel Camp, as surgeon in the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts. Dr. JJonathan Cass, as assistant surgeon in the Fortieth Massachusetts, and John C. Coffing, as lieutenant in the Tenth Connecticut.
The charter of the Cincinnatus Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, signed by Paul Revere, then Grand Master, was granted on the 9th of December, 1795. The lodge was composed mostly of citizens of New Marlboro, and its meetings were held in that town until October. 1797. From that time they were held alternately at New Marlboro and Great Barrington, during each six months. until February 12th, 1800, when the lodge was transferred to this town. The first meeting of the masons in . Great Barrington was held in the Moses C. Burr house, near the Bung Hill corner. They afterward met at the residence of John Farnum, since occupied by the late Jeremiah Atwood ; and later in the Leavenworth Hall, and in the tavern of Timothy Griswold.
In October. 1824. the lodge was transferred to Van Deusenville. and its meetings were held in the hall over the store of Isaac L. Van Deusen and George Pynchon ; but for many years after 1828 no meet- ings were held.
In 1852 the lodge was reorganized, but was removed to Sheffield early in the following year, where it remained until October, 1857, when it was returned to this town. and here it has since remained. The meetings of the lodge are now held in the brick block owned by Frederick T. Whiting.
The Monument Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons was chartered October 12th, 1875.
Early in 1854 the Hope Fire Company was organized, and a fine But- ton engine was purchased, at a cost of $1,600. The company at that time numbered eighty men, and an engine house was erected, on Castle Hill. in the fall and winter of the same year. In 1883. aronsed by the conflagration of the Congregational church, the fire district purchased a fine steam fire engine, and the engine house, already removed to Bridge street, was enlarged. On the 28th of August, 1884, a grand mister was held at this town, at which twenty-two fire companies were present from various parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, together with twenty bands and drum corps.
Ou the 27th of July, 1870, the Antietam Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Number 137, was organized in Great Barrington center. Colonel E. A. Selkirk was elected the first commander. On account of a lack of interest the society disbanded, holding its last meeting in May. 1875, with Captain John Harvey as acting commander.
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August 23d, 1883, the Captain E. T. Dresser Post, Number 158, was established at Housatonic, with a membership of eighteen, since increased to fifty.
The officer from whom the Post received its name was the son of Mr. Henry Dresser, of this town, who commanded Company D, of the Fifty- seventh Massachusetts Infantry. He was born at Stockbridge, and en- tered Williams College. from which institution he withdrew to join the Forty ninth regiment. He was killed in the action before Petersburg, July 30th. 1864.
The District Court of Southern Berkshire was instituted in 1870. Hon. Increase Sumner was appointed the first judge and he remained in that capacity until his death in 1871. Hon. James Bradford then received the appointment, and upon his resignation Hon. Normau W. Shores suc- ceeded to the office.
The few letters or papers that were received by the early settlers were brought to town by a post rider or a mounted courier. In 1797 a ยท post office was established at Great Barrington. and Moses Hopkins, Esq., was appointed the first postmaster, in which position he remained until his death, in 1838. The post office was kept, together with the registry of deeds. in the old gambrel-roofed building already described. Mr. Hopkins was enecooded by Hon. Increase Sumner, who removed the office to the Leavenworth store. In 1841 Mr. Sumner was displaced by Heze- kiah Lothrop, who in turn was succeeded by Samuel Newman. In 1849 Isaac Seeley was appointed to the office, and continued four years. Sam- uel B. Sumner then received the appointment from President Pierce, and held it until 1861, when Mr. Seeley was again appointed. During Presi- dent Grant's administration Mr. Seeley resigned and his daughter, Miss Julia Seeley, succeeded to the office.
On the 16th of October, 1834, John D. Cushing, from Lenox. issued the first number of the Berkshire Courier, having as his printing office an old building which stood back of the stone store of J. C. & A. C. Russell. Mr. Cushing afterward removed to the rear of the upper story of the Leavenworth store, where he remained until April 10th. 1839. when the building was destroyed by fire. He soon started an office in Railroad street, and was again burned out in the fall of 1854, but he re- opened his office in Mechanics' Hall, where the Sumner building now stands. Eearly in 1846 Clark W. Bryan, of Hudson. N. Y., became associated with Mr. Cushing under the firm name of Cushing & Bryan, and published the paper, now called the Berkshire Courier and Great Barrington Gazette. At the end of six months, however, Mr. Bryan withdrew.
In 1845 a democratic sheet, called The Independent Press, was started, and in the succeeding year a whig paper, called The Housatonic Mirror, was established by Theodore Dewey. Upon Mr. Bryant's de- parture Messis. Cushing and Dewey formed a partnership and the paper
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
appeared under the name of The Berkshire Courier and Housatonic Mirror.
In the fall of 1848 Mr. Bryan returned to Great Barrington and as- sumed the business management of the Courier. He remained in this capacity until 1852, when he became a member of the celebrated firm of Samuel Bowles & Company, which was composed of Samuel Bowles, Clark W. Bryan, and Josiah G. Holland, the editors and publishers of the Springfield Republican.
Mr. Cushing continued the Courier for about ten years, when he was joined by Mareus H. Rogers. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Rogers became the sole proprietor, and opened an office on the second floor of the build- ing south of the post office, and soon after introduced a steam press. In 1870 Mr. Rogers erected the structure known as the Courier Buildingand conducted the paper until January 1st, 1879, when he sold the whole property to Clark W. Bryan, who, together with his son, James A. Bryan, has continued the publication of the paper.
On May 24th, 1847. the Mahaiwe Bank was organized, with a capital of $100,000, which was afterward increased to $200,000. For a few months business was carried on in the old office of the registry of deeds, but it was soon removed to a room in the Berkshire House, where it re- mained until the creation of the present building. The first president was Wilbur Curtis, who served in that capacity until 1855, when he re- signed and was succeeded by John L. Dodge. The following gentlemen have been cashiers : Henry Hooker, John T. Banker, William Bostwick, Isaac B. Prindle, and Frederick N. Deland. This institution became a national bank in 1865.
The Great Barrington Savings Bank was organized on the 23d of Feb. ruary, 1869, and Egbert Hollister was soon after chosen president. Dr. William H. Parks served as treasurer until May 7th, 1879, when Charles J. Taylor succeeded him.
The Great Barrington Gas Company was chartered in 1855, and hav- ing laid pipes through Main street introduced gas from the manufactory originally constructed for the Berkshire Woolen Company. Pipes have since been laid in other streets, and the use of gas has become quite general.
In 1868 the Great Barrington Water Company was incorporated. with a capital of $20,000, and a reservoir was built that year upon the heights east of the river, from which pure water was brought to the village.
In 1884 the Mansfield Lake AAqueduct Company was formed. which laid pipes from Mansfield Pond on the hills west of the village, and they have introduced pipes through some of the principal streets. Hydrants have been placed in various parts of the village by both companies.
The old meeting house of Dr. Samuel Hopkins was generally used as a town hall until 1837. when that building was replaced by a town house, a high one-story building, painted white, with green blinds, and facing the common. This was destroyed by fire in 1844, and, as has already
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been stated, a strong effort was then made to have the new town hall lo. cated at Van Deusenville. Though failing in their object the citizens of Van Deusenville were yet in so strong a minority as to successfully op- pose the erection of the building at the center. A compromise was made by leasing the hall above the store of Messrs. J. C. & A. C. Russell. where the town meetings were held until 1860, from which time nutil 1876 the old Congregational church was used for the purpose.
In 1875 the present town hall was erected at a cost of $50. 763, includ- ing the price of the land and buildings then standing upon it. In addi- tion to the public hall this handsome structure contains the Registry of deeds, the District and Probate Court room, the Public Library, and rooms for the town officers. The grounds, consisting of more than one and one half acres, have been carefully graded, and in 1876 a bronze statute of Victory was placed upon a brown stone pedestal in front of the building, in memory of the heroes of the Rebellion. For this purpose the town appropriated the sum of $5,000, but as the cost considerably exceeded this sum, the balance was contributed by the late John H. Coffing.
About the year 1800 a circulating library was started in the store of Samuel Whiting, Esq., on the corner of Castle and Main streets. This institution, called the Union Library, was continued for twenty three years, when it was sold at public auction. In 1861 the Great Barrington Library Association was formed, with a capital of sixty-five shares of ten dollars each. The library gradually fell into disse, and in March, 1881, on the petition of Hon. Justin Dewey, Frank H. Wright, Esq., and others, the Great Barrington Free Library was chartered, and received 1.030 vol- umes from the former library, the Hope Fire Company's library, and the Agricultural Library. 500 volumes were afterward bought through the efforts of gentlemen interested in the success of the institution, and about 200 volumes were presented by individuals. In 1884 the town appropri- ated the sum of $1,000, to be placed at the disposal of the directors, and at the present time the library consists of over 3,000 volumes, carefully selected, of biography, history, scientific treatises, works of fiction, es- says, etc. It is well patronized by the public, there being about 250 vol- umes drawn per week. The library is an institution of practical value to the village, and is worthy of being sustained by the hearty support of the commnuity.
JOHN H. COFFING. *
John H. Coffing, of Great Barrington, for many years prominent among the business men of Berkshire county, was born at Salisbury, Conn .. February 30, 1811, the third in a family of nine children of Capt. John C. Coffing. The ancestors of the family, emigrating from England, were among the early settlers of Nantucket. about 1650. To the family name of Coffin the terminal letter y was added by Capt. John C. Coffing.
* By Charles J. Taylor.
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
At the age of twelve years John H. Coffing attended the military school of Capt. Alden Partridge in Vermont : he afterward became a student in the Academy at Westfield, Mass., and. still later, was under the tuition of Dr. Mark Hopkins.
On the completion of his studies, having acquired a fair education for practical business, he was employed as a clerk in the store of his father, at Salisbury. As his father was largely engaged in the iron man- ufacturing interests, for which Salisbury is noted, the tastes of the son quite naturally turned to that branch of industry. With this industry he familiarized himself and soon became a proficient and useful assistant to his father.
In 1833, February 27th. John H. Coffing married Rebecca F. Bost- 9 wick, of Salisbury.
Capt. John C Coffing had been instrumental in the erection of the iron furnace at Richmond in this county, in 1829; and in 1833-4, himself. with others. built the furnace at Van Deusenville, in Great Barrington.
I 1836, John H. Coffing came to Great Barrington, and engaged in the manufacture of pig iron at the Van Deusenville furnace, and to the iron business his energies were mainly directed during the active busi- ness period of his life.
A few years later, 1844. the Richmond Iron Works were incorporated. uniting the iron interests at Richmond and Van Densenville, to which the furnace at Cheshire has since been added. With his residence at Van Deusenville, Mr. Coffing became the active manager and business agent of the Richmond Iron Works, and was for many years the presi- dent. The well known success of this corporation is largely attributable to the wisdom and the financial and executive ability which Mr. Coffing brought to its management. The connection of Mr. Coffing with the iron business continued until 1867. when he withdrew. He had succeeded in giving to the product of his furnaces a high standard of excellence : had introduced' his iron to the attention of the government, and. in the face of the seyerest competition. had caused it to be extensively used in the manufacture of cannon.
In/1850 Mr. Coffing was active in the organization of the Mounment Mills'at Housatonic, and in giving impetus to the industry which has contributed so much to the building up of that thriving village. His convection with this business -- the manufacture of cotton warps-contin- 'ued about seventeen years, and until the corporation had become highly snecessful and established on a broad and substantial basis.
But the energies of Mr. Coffing were not wholly engrossed by his own private interests. He found leisure for public affairs : was for sex- eral years a director in the Mahaiwe Bank and in the Housatonic Bank. as well as an active officer in the savings bank of the town.
He was interested. too, in the Stockbridge & Pittsfield Railroad, and in the Berkshire Railroad, serving many years as president of the latter.
In all the local affairs of the town he took an active interest ; was
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identified with many of the public improvements which were made during his residence here. often devoting his time, day by day, to the superin- tendence of a public work. He was always ready with a helping hand in that which appeared to be useful, and with equal zeal opposed all pro- jects. which, in his judgment, were of doubtful value.
For the erection of the Soldiers' Monument in Great Barrington (in preference to a proposed Memorial Hall) Mr. Coffing labored assiduously, earnestly, and successfully, himself furnishing the model, and contribut- ing largely to the cost of the monument.
To the building of the Trinity Church at Van Densenville he con- tribnted a very large part of its cost and personally superintended the work.
Without being a politician he was thoroughly conversant with na- tional and State politics. A whig in principle, he was an ardent admirer of Henry Clay : as an earnest advocate of the protective tariff he equally admired Horace Greeley. Though often solicited to accept political offices, he invariably declined ; his spirit of independence rebelled. He would occupy no position in which his freedom of action might be cur- tailed or his motives called in question. He was once elected to a town office : in this he found the duties and associates so uncongenial that he early and peremptorily abandoned it. With the dissolution of the whig party, Mr. Coffing became, necessarily, a republican, and as such was a delegate in 1860 to the republican national convention which nomi- nated Abraham Lincoln.
The breaking out of the Rebellion stirred him to the inmost depths of his soul. He frequently presided at the war meetings of the town gathered for the purpose of raising men and means for quelling the rebel . lion, for furnishing aid to soldiers in the field and their families at home. Ilis addresses on these occasions were effective and to the point : and he was ever foremost with voice and purse in strengthening thegovernment and in aiding in the achievement of the glorious result.
In matters of business Mr. Coffing exercised sound judgment and great foresight, weighing carefully the subject presented, expressing his views with originality and clearness, and acting promptly and efficiently. Open and frank, proverbially truthful and honest himself, he would . brook no duplicity or deceit in others. With more than ordinary me- chanical skill. he combined good taste and an appreciation of the beanti- ful : he did well what he did, built well what he built, with always an eye to usefulness and durability. Benevolent and generous in his public contributions he was ever ready to assist in a worthy object. His private gifts to the needy were numerous, unostentations, often unsolicited. Many young men have profited by his counsel, and many-whom he deemed worthy-have received substantial pecuniary aid.
Mr. Coffing was sociable in conversation, with gravity for the grave, and humor for the humorous ; he was quick to appreciate the ludicrous. and would often discover, under a rough garb, much that was admirable
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
and to his liking. His attachments for his friends were strong : he euter- tained them bountifully ; had nothing too good for them, and entered into their cares, wishes, and hopes as if they were his own. After his retirement from active life, and for several years preceding his demise, Mr. Coffing busied himself in improving his farm and beantifving his home.
He died at Van Deusenville, August 14th, 1882, in the 22d year of his age.
CLARKSON T. COLLINS, M. D.
Clarkson T. Collins, M. D., of Great Barrington, Mass., was born in Smyrna, Chenango county, N. Y., January Sth, 1821. and died at the Grand Central Hotel, in New York city, AApril 10th, 1881. His parents, Job S. and Ruth Collins, were well known and highly esteemed members of the Society of Friends. They removed to Utica, N. Y .. in 1835. where they continued to reside until the father's death, in 1870. His mother died at the home of her daughter, in 1875, at the age of seventy-nine. His father was descended from Henry Collins, who came from England in 1635 and settled in Lynn, Mass. Some of the family removed to Vir- ginia ; the branch from which he descended united with the Society of Friends and settled in Rhode Island about 1666. His grandfather emi- Fiated to Central New York about 1800, and purchased a large tract of land.
His mother's maiden name was Hall. Her great grandfather, Col. William Hall. left the British army, and came to America and settled on a plantation near Newport, R. L., some years before the Revolutionary war. Her father also emigrated from Rhode Island about 1800, and bought a tract of land in Central New York.
Dr. Collins began his medical studies at the age of eighteen, with Prof. Charles B. Coventry, of Utica, N. Y. He soon afterward went to New York city, and entered the University, where he pursued his studies under Drs. Valentine Mott and David L. Rogers. He attended the City Hospital for three years, as well as the lectures, and graduated from the medical department of the University of New York in 1843, and settled in the city. Dr. Rogers retiring from the profession about that time, en- abled him to retain a portion of his practice. Soon after his graduation he was appointed one of the physicians to the Eastern Dispensary, and also district physician to the New York Lying in Asylum.
In 1845, with his characteristic energy and progressive ideas, he established the New York Medical and Surgical Reporter (afterward dis continued), when medical papers and magazines were by no means so common as at the present day.
Having made a special study of Gynecology, he established, in 1848, an infirmary for the treatment of female diseases, but was compelled in the following year, by repeated hemorrhages of the lungs, to relinquish for a time his arduous professional duties. Accompanied by his wife, he
Clarkson J. Collins.
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spent four months on the Island of Madeira, and then made a tour through Spain, France, and England, and returned to New York with the intention of there resuming his practice. But his lung trouble continu- ing, he determined to try the effect of a clear, cold mountain atmosphere ; he accordingly spent the winter of 1850-51 among the Berkshire Hills. Here the climate agreed with him so well that he removed from New York and settled in Great Barrington, where he continued to reside in his villa, known as . Indiola Place," until the time of his death. Dr. Collins was an early advocate for the establishment of the American Medical Association and was sent as a delegate from New York city to the meeting in Boston in 1849. He also advocated the formation of the New York Academy of Medicine, and was among its earliest members in 1847. He was made chairman of the Committee on Ether by the Academy when the profession was divided in sentiment as to its use : that commit- tee consisted of thirteen members, among whom were Drs. Valentine Mott. Parker, Post, and other eminent men.
He was a member of the American Medical Association, the New York State Medical Society, the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Berkshire District Medical Society. Of the last named society he was twice president. He was also one of the censors and State councillors, and corresponding member of the Massachusetts Board of Health. and of the Boston Gynecological Society. He devoted much time to the study of his profession, and published a number of contributions to its litera- ture, among which are the following: "Use of Electricity in Amenor- rhoea," London Lancet, 1844; "Opening Abscess in Lungs," N. Y. Journal of Medicine, 1844: an address before the Manhattan Medical Association, as its president, N. Y. Annulist, 1847. and Boston Medical? and Surgical Journal, 1847; an address before the Berkshire District Medical Society, on "Chronic Diseases of Women," Boston Medical. Journal, 1853; an address before the same society as its president, in 1861, Berkshire Medical Journal (now discontinued). In addition to these professional writings he prepared, in 1849, a brief biographical , sketch of his brother, Chalkley Collins, M. D., and, in 1850, a " History of the Island of Madeira," both of which were published in the Friends' Review of Philadelphia : also an article widely circulated in 1863, claim- ing exemption from military duty for members of the Society of Friends. This article, first published in the New York Times, March 3d, 1863. was afterward republished in pamphlet form by the society, and 300,000 copies were printed and circulated. This greatly aided in changing the national law, and in securing to Friends the exemption which, he contended. not only their conscientious scruples but also their great services to the coun- try in the promotion of social reforms, rendered a just due. An address delivered by him in 1861, after spending the previous winter in Cuba, , was also published.
In 1853 he founded. at Great Barrington, an institution, still known as the "Collins House," for the treatment of chronic diseases of women,
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
and received many patients from all parts of the country. He success- fully conducted this institution for sixteen years. During his residence of over thirty years in Berkshire county he established a large practice and won a wide reputation for medical and surgical skill. He was liberal and public spirited, and made many improvements in the section of the town where he resided.
Dr. Collins had one sister, Electa Jane, who married Abel F. Col- lins, of North Stonington, Con .; they now reside in Great Barrington, at " Indiola Place."
He also had one brother. Chalkley, who was born January 10th, 1826. He graduated in medicine at the University of New York, in 1849, and began practice in the city. He was a man of fine abilities and excellent character, and gave great promise of success in his profession ; when, a few months later, the city was visited by the cholera, he devoted himself to the care of many stricken with that disease. and was very successful in his method of treatment. He was soon attacked with the same dis- ease and died very suddenly, August 18th. 1849.
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