USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 2 > Part 2
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The intensity of political feeling in those times is evident from the
363
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
fact that in this, as in many other business and social enterprises, it was thought necessary to give the two political parties equal representation. Although the board of directors was mostly composed of men of good business talent they had no practical knowledge of banking, and they relied on Mr. Dexter to manage the business of the institution. Mr. Dex- ter was engaged in gigantie business enterprises elsewhere. and so man- aged the affairs of the bank that within five years it was hopelessly ruined. The directors were personally responsible for the debts of the bank, and their property was seized: but it proved insufficient, and they were, in accordance with law and custom at that time, committed to jail. After their liberation they recovered their prosperity, and it does not ap- pear that the loss of their fortunes diminished their influence or the re- spect in which they had been held.
The banking house, built for this bank in 1806, was afterward used by the Agricultural Bank, and then by the Berkshire Mutual Fire In- surance Company. It was removed, in 1874. to make place for the Berk- shire Athenæum.
Ebenezer Center, the cashier of the bank, was a merchant doing busi- ness on Bank row. He afterward removed to Hudson, but before his death he returned to Pittsfield. He was an upright and excellent man, with many popular qualities, but was unsuccessful in business.
James Buel, clerk and teller of the bank, was born at Litchfield. Connectiont, in 1787. and removed to Pittsfield in 1807 or 1808. From 1810 to 1812 he resided in Hudson. N. Y. In 1812 he began business again in Pittsfield, with David Campbell. on Exchange row. assuccessors to S. D. & J. D. Colt. From 1814 to 1816 he was treasurer and general agent of the Pittsfield Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. He afterward spent some years in New Orleans and Connecticut. but returned to Pittsfield and entered into partnership with Ezekiel R. Colt, with whom he continued in business on Bank row for twenty-five years. He was commissioned notary public by Governor Brooks in the year 1820, and held the office by successive reappointments until 1870. Pittsfield never had a citizen of more perfect uprightness and serupalous integrity than James Buel.
Another drain on the wealth of Pittsfield was made in 1812. Thomp- son J. Skinner, of Williamstown, was made treasurer of the State in 1806, and proved to be a defaulter to the amount of $60,000. Among his sureties were Ezekiel Bacon, Dr. Timothy Childs, and Simeon Griswold. There were others who had endorsed Mr. Skinner's private paper. Each of the sureties was compelled to pay $10,000. These drains had a sensi- ble effect on the business of the town.
In 1818 the Legislature chartered the Agricultural Bank, with the following corporators: Nathan Willis, Joseph Shearer. David Campbell. John B. Root, Thomas Gold, Theodore Hinsdale, jr., Lemuel Pomeroy. Henry C. Brown, Samuel D. Colt. Josiah Bissell. Jonathan Allen, Timo- thy Childs, Henry H. Childs, and Phinchas AAllen. The capital was fixed
364
HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
at $100,000 and the par value of the shares at $100. On the 9th of March the books were opened, and the stock was all subscribed by the 27th of April, when the stockholders unanimously chose the following board of directors : Thomas Gold. Nathan Willis, Josiah Bissell, Samuel D. Colt, and Henry C. Brown ; who subsequently elected Thomas Gold president. and Ezekiel R. Colt cashier. Mr. Gold continued president until October 2d, 1826, when he was succeeded by Hon. Edward A. Newton. In 1830 Mr. Newton, being about to visit Europe, was suceeded by Hon. Henry Shaw, who held the office until 1840, when Mr. Newton was reelected. Mr. Colt continued to be cashier long past this periodl. and to his finan. cial skill, integrity, industry, and firmness were due, in a very large de- gree, the remarkable confidence and eredit which the Agricultural Bank acquired. The building occupied by the Berkshire Bank was purchased and occupied as a banking house.
The successive presidents have been elected as follows : Thomas Gold. April 27th, 1818; Edward A. Newton, October 20. 1826; Henry Shaw, April 28th. 1830 ; E. A. Newton, October 5th, 1840 ; Henry Shaw, April 24th, 1845 ; Nathan Willis, October 11th. 1845; E. A. Newton. October 2d, 1848 : George W. Campbell. October 17th, 1853 : Thomas F. Plunkett. October 8th, 1861 ; Ensign H. Kellogg, January 9th, 1866, died Jannary 23d, 1882; John R. Warriner, January, 1882.
Ezekiel R. Colt was elected cashier June 20th. 1818, and held the office until his resignation. August 1st, 1853, when John R. Warriner was elected. Mr. Warriner was elected president in January, 1882, and I. D. Ferry was appointed cashier. The capital stock of the bank was in creased, in 1851, to $200,000. It became a national bank in 1865.
The Pittsfield Bank was chartered in April, 1853, with a capital stock of $150,000. The first meeting of the stockholders was held in May. 1852, and the following directors were chosen : David Carson, John V. Barker, Gaius C. Burnap. Robert Pomeroy, Henry Stearns. Thomas Colt. George W. Platuer. David Carson was chosen president, and Junius D. Adams cashier. The succeeding presidents were : Hon. Julius Rockwell. " elected April 6th, 1858; Hon. Thomas Colt. elected January 18th. 1870 : John V. Barker, Esq .. elected July 29th, 1873 : Hon. Julius Rockwell. elected January 20th, 1874, the present incumbent.
On the death of Mr. Adams, Edward S. Francis was chosen cashier April 1st, 1864, and continues to hold that position.
The capital of the bank was increased to $300.000 in March. 1854 : and to $500,000 in May, 1857. It was reorganized as the Pittsfield National Bank in June, 1865.
The Berkshire County Savings Bank was incorporated in 1846, the original corporators being Henry Shaw, Thomas A. Gold, Thomas F. Plunkett, and Charles Sedgwick. The following officers were elected April 29th, 1846 : President, Henry Shaw ; secretary, Thomas A. Gold : vice-presidents, Charles M. Owen, Phinehas Allen. Samuel Rossiter. San- ford Blackinton : trustees, Jason Clapp. Jabez Peck, Thomas F. Plun-
17 FRANCIS AVENUE,
RESIDENCE OF E. S. FRANCIS.
PITTSFIELD.
-
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TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
kett, Thaddeus Clapp. George W. Campbell, Solomon L. Russell. Com- fort B. Platt, Stephen B. Brown, Zenas M. Crane, Henry W. Bishop, George W. Platner, Samuel Gates, John C. Russell, Socrates Squier.
At the first meeting of the trustees. June 3d. 1846, James Warriner was elected treasurer, and held the office until his death, in 1865, when he was succeeded by Robert W. Adam, who still holds the office. Mr. Gold was succeeded as secretary in 1855, by John R. Warriner. On the resignation of Mr. Shaw. in 1847, Hon. George N. Briggs became pres- ident, and was succeeded in 1852 by Hon. Thomas F. Plunkett, and in 1863 Hon. Julius Rockwell succeeded Mr. Plunkett, and in ISS5 is still president.
The growth of the institution is shown by the following statement of the amount of deposits at different intervals :
January. 1850, 821,596 ; January 1855, $94.964 : January. 1860. $187. - 736 ; January, 1865. 8488,272 ; January, 1870, 81, 000,953 ; January, 1875, $1,920,083 : Jannary, 1880. $1.601,449 : January, 1855. $1,970,935.43.
The Third National Bank of Pittsfield was chartered in 1881, with a capital of $125,000. The directors are : Henry W. Taft, president : Hon. Byron Weston, vice- president ; E. D. G. Jones. S. N. Russell, C. W. Kellogg, John T. Power, J. Dwight Francis, W. H. Sloan, L. A. Stevens. Cashier, Ralph B. Bardwell : bookkeeper. M. L. Parker.
The first insurance company in Pittsfield was incorporated early in 1819 under the title. " The Pittsfield Mutual Fire Insurance Company." The corporators named in the act of incorporation were : Josiah Bissell. Henry H. Childs. Phinehas Allen, Henry C. Brown. Solomon Warriner. Jason Clapp. Simeon Brown, Jonathan Allen 2d. Thomas B. Strong, Cal- vin Martin, and William C. Jarvis.
The company organized March 29th, by the choice of William C. Jar vis. Josiah Bissell, Oliver P. Dickinson. Oren Benedict, and John Dick- inson, as directors : Calvin Martin, secretary and treasurer. The organ- ization was abandoned after a trial of one or two years.
1 In 1835, the Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company was char- tered, the corporators named in the act being Nathan Willis. E. A. New- ton, and E. R. Colt ; Messrs. Newton and Colt, who had been engaged in both the previous attempts, having now the gratification of seeing their persistent efforts crowned by the establishment of a permanent and prosperous insurance company, or one destined to become so.
The new company was organized May 28th, 1835. by the choice of the following directors : Nathan Willis, Edward A. Newton. Jabez Peck. Solomon L. Russell. Ezekiel R. Colt. Jason Clapp, and Henry C. Brown. The directors chose Nathan Willis, president ; and Parker L. Hall. sec. retary and treasurer.
The succession in chief officers has been as follows: presidents, Na- than Willis, elected 1835, died 1849: Thomas B. Strong, elected 1850, died 1855 : Ezekiel R. Colt. elected 1555, resigned on account of declin ing health in 1800 : Walter ballin, elected 1800, died 1870 ; John C. West.
-
€
HOME OFFICE OF BERKSHIRE LIFE INSURANCE CO., PITTSFIELD.
36
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
New York, and Samuel E. Howe, now of Pawtucket, R. I .. as secretary, and Mr. Plunkett, as president, closed up the affairs and the charter was surrendered.
The Berkshire Life Insurance Company was chartered in May, 1851. when Hon. George N. Briggs was chosen president. On the death of Gov- ernor Briggs, in September, 1861, he was succeeded by Hon. Thomas F. Plunkett, and on the death of Mr. Plunkett, Edward Boltwood became president in January, 1876. Hon. William R. Plunkett is the present president.
The secretaries have been : Benjamin Johnson, Benjamin Chicker- ing. Lorenzo H. Gamwell. Edward Boltwood, and James W. Hull.
In 1867-8 the company erected a large and costly building, one of the most perfect business structures in the country, on the corner of North and West streets, long known as the site of the " Old Berkshire Hotel." In it is the central office of the proprietary corporation, the business of which ramities into every portion of the northern section of the continent. It also affords spacious rooms for the post office, luxurious banking houses for the Pittsfield, Agricultural, and Third National Banks, and the Berkshire County Savings Bank, halls for the several masonic bodies, many other offices, and several stores.
The company ranks very high among institutions of its character for its economical management, fair dealing, and reliability. When premi- ums have been paid for two years or longer and are afterward, for any reason, discontinued, the policy is reduced to a proportionate part, car- ried to its maturity, and then paid in accordance with its terms and con- ditions. The company has steadily and rapidly grown ever since its in- corporation, and is one of the most prosperous insurance companies in the country.
The present directors are : William R. Plunkett, president ; James M. Barker, vice-president : James W. Hull, secretary and treasurer ; George H. Tucker, John V. Barker, Thomas G. Carson, Jabez L. Peck. Josiah Carter, J. N. Dunham, George T. Plunkett. J. F. A. Adams. Hon. Byron Weston, Henry W. Taft, Hon. Justin Dewey. Wellington Smith, Hon. Henry W. Bishop. W. B. Plunkett, S. W. Brayton.
1
CHAPTER XXI.
TOWN OF PITTSFIELD (continued).
First Church and Ministers .- Union Parish .- South Church .- Second Congregational Church.
1 T HAS been stated that in 1753 action was taken concerning the erec- tion of a meeting house at Poontoosuck. No practical result fol- lowed, and during the continuance of the second French war nothing was done in that direction.
In 1760 the subject was agitated, and offers of cooperation were made by non-resident proprietors, but they were not accepted. Propositions were made by the resident proprietors and declined by the other party. After the failure of several plans to receive the sanction of the proprietors a resolution was adopted, on the 15th of June. 1761. " That four shillings be raised on each lot, to pay for raising the meeting house : and every man who comes early to have three shillings credit, per diem, till the house be raised, and the committee to take account of each man's labor. -- the other shilling to be paid for rum and sugar."
And so, with labor dnly cheered according to the custom of the day. ! the first Pittsfield meeting house was raised in the summer of 1761. and covered and floored before the first of the next March, when a town meet . ing was held in it.
Nothing further was done to the house till May, 1764, when Colonel Williams obtained the privilege of building in it a pew for himself and family. Similar requests were made by others, and in December of that year it was determined to finish the house below and the front seats of the gallery, and to defray the expense by the sale of posts.
The following is a plan of this meeting house :
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TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
PLAN OF THE FIRST PITTSFIELD MEETING HOUSE.
2
1 672 × 6
PULPIT
16 6 /2 XE
15
6/2×5%
6 2 ×5.2
3 6 /2 ×51/2
14 6 12 ×5/2
WEST DOOR
EAST DOOR
4
5 0 x 5 |
5 8 ×5 2
7 8 / 5/2
8 8 X 5%
13 6/2×5 2
C 12/ 5/2
GALLERY STMIRS
a
10 6% 18
11 6",×8
12 6 2 × 8
FRONT DOOR
The result of the sale of pews, which took place February 4th, 1765, was as follows:
48
S.
No. 1, David Bush & Co
IO
5
2, Caleb Waddams & Co
1
15
3, Joseph Keelar & Co
4
IO
4, Zebediah and Ephraim Stiles
2
10
5, Amos Root & Co.
4
6, James Easton & Co.
4
0
" 8, Gideon Goodrich & Co.
4
' to, William Williams & Co
6
IO
" 11, Captain Charles Goodrich & Co
6
15
13, William Williams.
2
IO
14, Eli Root & Co.
5
O
" 15, Daniel Hubbard, jr., & Co.
1
IO
16, David Noble & Co
9
O
1
William Williams agreed to finish the house within one year for the proceeds of the sale and the two spaces (9 and 12) left unsold. The work was not completed, however, and November 16th, 1770, it was agreed to "accept the house as it stood, although not completed according to contract." The young men who. according to the custom of those times. were seated in one of the galleries, obtained permission, in 1770, to build four pews in the front gallery, to be " under the direction of the select- men."
The custom of "dignifying " or " seating " the meeting house pro- vailed at this time and long after. It consisted in assigning seats on an estimate of age, rank, office, estate list, and aid furnished in building the
O
7, Daniel Hubbard & Co.
S
5
0
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
house. It is easy to imagine that disputes and long continued feuds would be engendered by this perplexing business, which was always done by a committee. When completed, this house, which stood imme- diately in front of the present location of the First Congregational Church, was a plain, angular building, "forty feet long, thirty five wide. and twenty feet post." two stories, covered with rough, unpainted clap- boards, with square windows and doors in the cast, west, and south sides. without spire, belfry, or portico, and with no ornamentation.
It is not known when the site of the burial ground was fixed. In 1767 a proposition was made to either change its location of to clear and fence it, and in November, 1769. it was voted " forthwith to clear the ground for a burial place, and that David Bush be a committee to see it perfect, and also fenced, and the timber thereon to be em- ployed therefor ; and that he give every man a chance to work ont their proportion if they attend according to his warning." Eli Root had been directed to provide "a spade, a howe (hoe), and a peck for digging graves, and to take charge of the same."
The meeting house commons and the graveyard, which were soon merged in each other, covered all the space embraced within North street. the old line of East street (including the present Park Place), a line drawn past the north side of the Baptist church, and another drawn near the west side of St. Stephen's to meet it at right angles.
If the erection of the first meeting house in Pittsfield was attended with difficulties and delays, so was the settling of the first minister. Probably the doctrinal controversies that then disturbed the Congrega- tional church were the sources of these difficulties.
In 1759 a Mr. Clark preached as a candidate, or " probationer." but was not called. In 1760 Rev. Ebenezer Garnsey preached for a time, and was requested to become the permanent pastor, but declined. In May. 1763, Rev. Amos Tompson was called as a probationer, but by reason of a division of feeling concerning him he was not settled. Mr. Daniel Hop- kins preached on probation, but was not called. Mr. Daniel Collins also preached as a candidate, but opposition to him was manifested and he was not called.
December 9th, 1763, the town decided to invite Mr. Thomas Allen, of Northampton, as a probationer. While he. was officiating in that capacity a church was formed. The organization was affected on the 7th of Feb- ruary, 1764, at the house of Deacon Crofoot, Revs. Samuel Hopkins. of Great Barrington. Stephen West, of Stockbridge, and Ebenezer Martin. of Becket, being present. The covenant and articles of faith were signed by: Stephen Crofoot, Ephraim Stiles. Daniel Hubbard, Aaron Baker, Jacob Ensign, William Phelps. Lemmel Phelps, and Elnathan Phelps.
On the 5th of March, 1764, the church unanimously elected Mr. Al- len to the pastorate, the town on the same day unanimously conemed. and tendered him a salary of 960 per annum, to be increased 95 annually
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TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
till it reached £80 : and on the same day the proprietors, who were re- quired by the town charter to defray the expense of settling the first minister. as well as of building the first church, voted him 990, in three annual instalments, "to enable him to settle himself among them." Mi. Allen accepted the call. and, on the 1Sth of the following month, April, he was ordained, and entered on his work, which was destined to con- tinue for half a century.
THE OLD PARSONAGE.
At the time of the erection of the first meeting house in Pittsfield, in 1762, it was said, by Oliver Partridge and Moses Graves, that it would be insufficient when the town came to contain 60 families.
It was, however, made to answer. with no loud complaints of incon- venience, until, after 30 troubled years, Pittsfield, in 1790, had attained a population of 2,000, of which about 200 were Baptists, Episcopalians. and Shakers.
The Baptists had a meeting house. unfinished, in the west part : the Shakers another in the southwest ; and the Episcopalians held divine service, with lay reading, oftenest in the spacious parlors of the Van Schaack mansion.
The first town action toward a new meeting house was on the 13th of April, 1789, when the following committee was appointed to report a plan. with the estimated cost ; Woodbridge Little, Daniel Hubbard. Timothy Childs, Joel Stevens, Simon Larned, Ebenezer White, Oswald Williams, David Bush, and John Chandler Williams.
In the following November this committee reported in favor of a house fifty-one feet wide and seventy feet long, exclusive of porch and balcony. It was recommended to enclose the building within one year. and leave the question of finishing the interior for future consideration. The estimated total cost of the building was $1.051, 2d.
The report was accepted, and the following committee was appointed to collect material : David Bush, Joel Stevens. John Chandler Williams, Simon Larned, John Partridge, Oliver Root, Josiah Moseley. Dan Cad- well, and Joel Dickinson.
It does not appear that there were any voluntary contributions. but every person was permitted to pay his proportion of the cost in
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
material and labor. The " Book of Credits" shows that Stephen Fowler, who lies buried in the Pilgrim's Rest at the new cemetery, brought the ridgepole : Captain Charles Goodrich. two sills ; William Partridge. Josiah and Isaac Ward, a large stick : Colonel Oliver Root, fifty feet of oak posts and forty-six feet of oak plates ; Mrs. Stoddard and Mrs. Dickinson, widows of old friends. but leaders in opposing parties dur- ing the Revolution. united in contributing a pillar twenty feet long, and a pine beam seventy feet : Zebulon Stiles, one of the earliest settlers, and now a slumberer in the Pilgrim's Rest, brought a sill fifty feet long ; and Captain Jared Ingersoll contributed, from his timber land in Lenox, one of the pillars of the belfry ; and thus through all the townsmen, or at least the Congregational portion of them.
It also appears that portions of the taxes for the meeting house were paid in grain and neat cattle. The total cost of the house proved to be £2,188, 19s., 6d., and it was built ninety feet long, exclusive of the porch, and fifty feet wide.
In the spring of 1790 much material had accumulated on what is now the Park, but the first prerequisite to its use was the determination of the location of the building. A committee first reported chat the meet- ing house front door should face the south : that it should stand on the same ground that the old meeting house covered : that the front sill should be on the north line of the highway : that the west side of the house should be about three feet west of the west side of the old meeting house.
This location was unsatisfactory to some, and at a town meeting, called for the purpose. it was determined to place the house seven feet farther south. This would necessitate the destruction of the graceful elm, and the first strokes of the axe had wounded it when the wife of John Chandler Williams appeared on the scene, and, finding her entrea- ties vain, threw herself between the venerated tree and the axe, and thus procured a. postponement of the matter till the town could reconsider the question. Mr. Williams then proposed to donate to the town. for a com- mon, as much of his land south of the elin as they would leave of space between that point and the meeting house. The offer was accepted, the elm was saved, and the town acquired the ground for a beautiful park.
Colonel Joshua Danforth, John Chandler Williams, and Daniel Weller were selected a building committee, and the first charge in the construction account-for ram -- was made May 10th. 1790. Colonel Bul. finch, of Boston, was the architect, and Captain Joel Dickinson the master mechanic. The building was raised and covered, and probably painted and glazed. in 1790. At a meeting. October 4th of that year, John Chandler Williams. Daniel Hubbard, and Joshua Danforth were elected a committee to provide material for finishing the house. A com- mittee of eleven was appointed to consider in what form the pews should be made. It consisted of Daniel Hubbard. Oliver Root, David Bush. sen., Joseph Fairfield, Joshua Robbins, Eli Root. James D. Colt, .I. C.
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TOWN OF PITTSFIELD.
Williams, Timothy Childs, and Daniel Sackett. Most of these were elderly men, and their report was not satisfactory to those who, even then, had begun to recognize " progress" in social as well as political customs. Greater uniformity in the style of the seats was desired, and the old puritanical custom of " dignifying" the seats was distasteful. The party of progress prevailed, and what they considered uachristian distinctions were, at least, rendered less conspicuous.
The house was completed in 1793, but it is not known when it was dedicated. The first bell was placed in the tower that year. Its weight was seven hundred pounds ; but too heavy a tongne was placed in it, and it was broken. It was speedily replaced by another weighing one thou- sand pounds.
Greater care was exercised over the new structure than had been be- stowed on the old one, and the town enacted a by-law forbidding "any game of wicket, cricket, base ball, bat ball, foot ball, cats. fives, or any other game played with ball," within eighty yards of the honse.
In 1855 this house was injured by fire. It was removed to the grounds of the Maplewood Young Ladies' Institute, was slightly re. modeled, and became the gymnasium of that institution. An observa- tory took the place of the belfry.
Soon after the erection of this building the burial ground received some attention. A vote was passed that it " shall no longer be improved for a pasture," and a neat white fence was built along the Park Place front, and a generous price was paid for a similar enclosure on North street.
It was first intended to remove the old meeting house and convert it into a town hall, but finally a committee was appointed to sell it. The sale was deferred till the old building became a source of danger to the new one, and its removal was attempted. It was drawn but a short dis- tance when its rotten timbers came crashing to the ground.
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