USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Conway > History of Conway (Massachusetts) 1767-1917 > Part 2
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Not all the attacking party returned to Canada with the prisoners after the surrender of Fort Massachusetts. Many of the Indians, who were dissatisfied with the small number of prisoners, crossed the Hoosac Mountain and continuing down the Deerfield Valley discovered, on August 24, a field of hay near the foot of Stillwater. Here they waited in ambush for the haymakers, who unsuspectingly returned to their fate the following day. One of the haymakers going into the bush for partridge, walked right up to the hidden enemy and was instantly shot. The other men made a heroic but hopeless resistance
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and with one or two exceptions were killed upon the spot. Several of the children who accompanied the haymakers were assisted to make good their escape. One boy, Samuel Allen, Jr., was captured and taken to Canada. He returned, however, and became one of the first landowners in Conway. Eunice Williams, thirteen years of age, was pursued by an Indian, who fractured her skull with a blow of his hatchet and left her for dead but failed, probably because of his haste, to take her scalp. She was rescued and lived to be eighty-five years of age, although it is said she never completely recovered from the effects of the blow. The men killed were Samuel Allen, Eleazar Hawks, Oliver Amsden, Simeon Amsden, and Adonijah Gillet. This attack upon the haying party is known locally as the "Bars Fight."
THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.
Peace was restored in the colonies a few months after the signing of the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, October 7, 1748. The seven years' peace which ensued was followed by the "Seven Years' War," or the "Last French War," as it was commonly called in America. The year 1755 is memorable in American history as the year of Braddock's ill-fated expedition against Fort Duquesne, but this is hardly more a matter of local history than the great Lisbon earthquake which occurred the same year, as no New England troops served under Braddock. Hampshire county men, however, were soon actively engaged in the expedition against Crown Point, which was also unsuc- cessful, as were the succeeding campaigns of 1756, 1757, and 1758. In 1755 also occurred the "Bloody Morning Scout" near Lake George in which Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of the college which bears his name, and other Hampshire county men were killed.
MASSACRE OF WILLIAM HENRY.
The year 1757 was signalized by the capture of Fort William Henry at Lake George by the French and Indians under Mont- calm. The gallant defense of the fortress by Colonel Monroe against overwhelming odds, and the shameful massacre of the disarmed garrison by inebriated savage hordes, after it had
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HISTORY OF CONWAY.
capitulated upon Montcalm's promise of protection, is a chapter of colonial history still widely known as the "Massacre of William Henry." Montcalm's special plea that he was unable to re- strain his three thousand Indians, gathered from thirty-three different tribes, because some of the English soldiers, in spite of all warnings, had given them rum to drink, has never been considered sufficient to remove this foul blot from the escutcheon of the gallant Frenchman.
Cooper in his "Last of the Mohicans" has attempted to visualize the scenes of the "Massacre of William Henry." How incomplete would be our mental pictures of past events if formed only from historical records! It has become almost a truism that imagination is, after all, the real truth-teller. Yet Cooper's attempt to depict the scenes of the massacre hardly outrun in sanguinary details the traditions and historical narratives that have come down to us.
Sheldon in his "History of Deerfield" gives the following account of how a Deerfield man escaped the Indians at William Henry: "Lieut. Salah Barnard was seized by two Indians; each grasped one of his hands and dragged him towards the woods to strip and murder him. Barnard was an athletic man, and while the three were in this relative position, they reached a steep descent. Just at the moment the Indians began to descend, Barnard braced himself back, gathered all his strength and swung the heads of the Indians together with such force as to stun them both. He made his escape and finally reached Fort Edward." Among the Deerfield men who served under Colonel Monroe at William Henry was Consider Arms, the first town clerk of Conway.
The fate of William Henry intensified the feeling of appre- hension along our frontier. Its effect in our immediate vicinity was to strengthen the garrisons at the several forts. Col. Israel Williams, who had been chief in command in Hampshire since the death of Colonel Stoddard in the last war, placed the four forts in Colerain under Lieut. John Hawks, Sergt. John Brown and fifteen men at Greenfield, Sergt. Remembrance Sheldon and sixteen men at Fall Town (Bernardston), Sergt. Ebenezer Belding and nine men at Huntstown (Ashfield), Sergt. Helkiah Grout and fourteen men at Northfield, and Sergts. Samuel and
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Othniel Taylor and Greshom Hawks with fifty-one men at Charlemont.
The General Court in 1755 had offered a bounty to those in the regular service of forty pounds sterling for each Indian scalp, and the garrisons at the forts were provided with snow- shoes and moccasins for the use of scouting and scalping parties. The records of some of the Massachusetts towns show that bounties were actually paid for scalps. In spite of the vigilance of the scouts there were occasional Indian incursions, and alarms were frequent. Marauding parties penetrated as far as Greenfield, Northfield, Colerain, and Bernardston, and on June 11, Moses Rice, the first settler in Charlemont, with his son and two boys was surprised by the Indians while hoeing corn. He was killed and scalped and the two boys were taken to Canada. Phineas Arms, a Deerfield man and a soldier of the garrison at Charlemont, who went to the cornfield as a guard to the party, was also killed.
In 1758 the fortunes of war began to favor the English. Abercrombie's repulse at Ticonderoga was followed in a few weeks by the second capture of Louisburg. The successful campaigns of the following year, the evacuation of Ticonderoga by the French, and the capture of Quebec by General Wolfe, left the result of the war no longer in doubt. Deerfield and other Hampshire men did their full share in these campaigns. March 16 Colonel Williams was ordered to send two hundred men from the Hampshire regiment to join the army of Amherst at Lake George for the attack on Ticonderoga. The destruction of the Indian town of St. Francis in Canada by Rogers' Rangers, with whom several Deerfield men served, completely discouraged the Indians and Massachusetts has since been free from their hostile visitations.
The French power in Canada came to an end with the surrender of Montreal to General Amherst, September 8, 1760. Among the Deerfield men who served in this closing campaign were three who held lands in the South West District, or Conway, to wit: Major John Hawks, the gallant defender of Fort Massa- chusetts in the Old French War; Lieut. Seth Catlin, and Samuel Allen.
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HISTORY OF CONWAY.
CONWAY SET OFF.
The following account of the setting off of Conway from the mother town is taken from Sheldon's "History of Deerfield": Dec. 10, 1750, "Voted to divide ye South and half of ye West Additional Grant"-now Conway-and a committee was chosen to "take a view" of the tract, and run and mark lines two hun- dred rods apart, "to run South 19° West." Dec. 14, 1753, John Blackmer was granted ten acres "including a place for a mill just before the crotch of South River," provided he can prove a right to as much as one common. Agents were chosen to prosecute trespassers on the commons, but proprietors were allowed to cut as much timber as they would for their own use in building or fencing. April 21, 1760, a committee was chosen to run the nine-mile line, and establish the Ashfield bounds, the line against Hatfield, and mark the south line of Shelburne grants. Ten years had now elapsed since the vote to divide the Conway land, and now, June 16, measures were taken to lay it out to individuals. It was to be cut into seven tiers of two hundred rods, each parallel to the nine-mile line, and an eighth tier, taking what was left to the seven-mile line, with four intersecting roads. The next day lots were cast for the draft. But the last French war was still raging, and nothing further appears to have been done towards effecting a settle- ment. The proprietors, most of whom lived in Deerfield, had land enough and to spare, and many of them sold out to specu- lators, or men desirous of settling on the territory. In 1763, the whole tract was in the hands of forty parties or estates, and more than one half of this was held by seven men. March 2, 1767, the people of "South West" appeared in town meeting with a petition to be set off into a separate district. About this time a large sum of money was being expended by the town in repairing the meeting house. From its location, the people of Conway could get little comparative benefit from the taxes they would be called upon to pay in footing the bills. The same amount expended at home would give a much more satisfactory return. This consideration probably hastened the inevitable act of separation.
This petition probably contains nearly a full list of the voters in South West at this time. It is addressed :-
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To the Inhabitants of the Town of Deerfield in the County of Hampshire qualified by Law to vote in Town Meetings
"We the Subscribers inhabitants and owners of lands within that tract of land in the sd Township of Deerfield called the South West Division, for too many reasons herein to be men- tioned, humbly request of you that you would by a vote give your full Consent and declare yourselves willing that the sd South West Division should be set off from ye sd Township of Deerfield and made into a district corporated and vested with all the Power and Privileges which Towns or Districts within this Province are by Law vested withal, if the Genl Court of ye sd Province upon application to them made shall judge the Same Expedient
"Deerfield Jany 12 1767."
Thomas French,
David Whitney,
Moses Daniels,
Israel Rice,
David Parker,
Will Warren,
James Oliver,
Jeremiah How,
Robert Hamilton,
James Dickinson,
Samuel Wells,
Benj'm Pulsipher,
Josiah Boyden,
John Boyden,
John Thwing,
Simeon (Jones?),
Cyrus Rice,
Elijah Wells,
Joel Baker,
James Gilmore,
Daniel Davidson,
James Gilmore, Jr.,
Ebenezer Allis,
John Rand,
Stephen Davidson,
Will'm Smith,
Alexander Oliver,
Abra. (?) Marble,
Silas Ransom,
Mathew Graves,
Jonas T. Witchell,
Nathaniel Marble,
Nath. Field,
Joseph Cutler,
Robert Oliver,
John Merrit,
Elias Dickinson,
(Abel Marinan?).
At the town meeting, March 2, 1767, a committee of nine was chosen to "Confer together & draw up a proper vote for the Setting off the South West part of Deerfield into a Separate District and lay the same befor the Town for its Acceptance."
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HISTORY OF CONWAY.
The meeting was adjourned one day for a mature consideration of the proposition, when it was :-
"Voted that the prayer of the Petitioners be granted upon the following Conditions, viz .: That the Inhabitants aforesd be set off with their Lands into a town or separate District by the following Meets & Bounds, viz. East upon the seven Mile Line, so called, until it comes to Deerfield River; West upon Ashfield Bounds, or the west line of Deerfield; South upon Hatfield Bounds; North, partly upon Deerfield River, untill it comes to the Northwest Division so called, & thence by sd Northwest Division untill it comes to the west line of the Town.
"Provided also that they pay the same proportion of the Yearly Province & county Tax laid upon Deerfield, as the Polls & Estates of the Inhabitants of sd South West were set at & assessed in the last list & Tax."
With this consent, the Conway people at once applied to the Legislature, and on June 17, 1767, Gov. Francis Bernard signed the act which gave Conway a separate municipal existence.
CHAPTER II. THE FIRST CENTURY.
A paper prepared for the Centennial Celebration of Conway, in 1867, and given in part as an address on that occasion.
BY REV. CHARLES B. RICE, D.D.
The settlement of Conway was begun in 1762. Most of the adjoining towns were entered upon before that time. Deerfield, which had then been occupied nearly one hundred years, owed its early planting to the attraction of its rich meadows, uncovered of forests and ready at once for cultivation. It was possible also there, and in the other meadow towns, to establish settle- ments sufficiently compact to offer some defense against the Indians. The savage war cry, ringing through the valley for nearly all that hundred years, and but just then ceasing to be heard had kept back the peopling of the hill country westward. And for the occupation of some towns at the north and west at dates a little earlier than that of Conway, it was due to the greater efforts of those township proprietors to give value to the lands they owned by establishing settlements upon them.
At the time of its settlement, this region now bearing the name Conway was included within the limits of Deerfield. The first record we have relating to it occurs May 28, 1712. At that time the General Court for the State, in answer to a petition of Rev. John Williams, enlarged the territory of Deer- field by allowing it to extend "nine miles westward into the western woods." The nine miles were not wholly in the new grant, but included the previous width of the town from east to west. Before this, the west line of Deerfield was what it is now. The territory thus conveyed was nearly the same that is now embraced in Conway and Shelburne. The southern portion of it came to be known as "South West District," or "South West"; and it was also sometimes called "Deerfield commons." Arrangements were made in 1753 by the township proprietors for the division of the district into lots, preparatory to its settlement. The survey was made beginning on the western or Ashfield line; and the town appears at first to have
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HISTORY OF CONWAY.
been divided by four parallel "roads." stretching from north to south across its entire length, into eight ranges, each 200 rods in width, which ranges were to be subdivided by east and west lines. Nothing came of these "roads," which were laid out six rods wide; and the whole survey underwent such readjust- ments that the lots, as finally offered for sale, were 240 rods in length from east to west, and 100 rods in width, containing 150 acres.
There was much controversy with Huntstown, now Ashfield, concerning the western boundary. Twice the Deerfield and Conway men got the worst of the matter in law, and were com- pelled to draw in their lines. They never felt easy as to the way this business was settled, and unquestionably we ought to believe that they were wronged. . The owners on the west side who suffered loss received compensation in other lands. It is observed by Pliny Arms, Esq., of Deerfield, who touches on this point in his valuable historical lecture, that the Hoosac farm, now owned by Consider Arms, was probably acquired by his grandfather Consider in this way.
In December of the same year, 1753, appears the first sign looking towards actual settlement in Conway. The proprie- tors made a grant to John Blackmore of ten acres of land for a mill spot "at a place just before the crotch of South River"; there being a condition that he should build within twelve months. But it cannot be learned that John Blackmore pro- ceeded any further with this enterprise. The place itself where he meant to build, any one familiar with the course of South River and the force of prepositions may be competent now to discover.
In 1754 a county road was laid out across the District from east to west. This road, to which further reference will be made, had respect at this time solely to the use of the Huntstown settlers. It remained for years a mere path. In 1763 it was voted by Deerfield to raise four pounds "towards building a bridge over South River, and making the County road adjacent to the same." A rude bridge was probably soon thrown across, and some work done on the banks to make it accessible.
After South West began to be peopled, we find that an allow- ance was made for the schooling of the children who lived too far away to attend at the "Town Plat."
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THE FIRST CENTURY.
Early in 1767 the inhabitants had become numerous enough to wish for a separate organization; and they petitioned to that effect. Deerfield agreed to the petition, and proposed the boundaries of the new town as follows: "East upon the seven mile line, so called, until it comes to Deerfield River; West, upon Ashfield bounds, or the west line of Deerfield; South, upon Hatfield bounds" (where Whately and Williams- burg now are); "North, partly upon Deerfield line, until it comes to the North-west Division, so-called" (that is, until it strikes the Shelburne line); "and thence by said North-west Division until it comes to the West line of the town."
On the 17th of June in the same year Conway was incor- porated by act of the General Court.
The town took its name from Gen. Henry Conway, then a member of the British ministry, and popular in the Colonies as having been government leader in the House of Commons at the repeal of the Stamp Act. General Conway was a brave soldier, and a well meaning though not an able statesman.
The General Court had authorized Elijah Williams, "One of His Majesties' justices of the peace for the County of Hamp- shire," to issue his warrant "to some Principle Inhabitant" of Conway, requiring him to warn the qualified voters to meet for the choice of town officers. This warrant bears date Aug. 8, 1767; and is the first document appearing on the records of the town.
The first town meeting thus provided for was held on Mon- day, Aug. 24, at the house of Thomas French, Innholder. The following is the list of the officers elected: Consider Arms, Moder- ator and Town Clerk; Cyrus Rice, Constable; Thomas French, Consider Arms, and Samuel Wells, Selectmen and Assessors; Consider Arms, Town Treasurer; Israel Gates, Thomas French, and Joel Baker, Surveyors of Highways; David Parker, Ty- thingman; Elisha Amsden, Warden; Thomas French and Simeon Graves, Fence Viewers; Silas Rawson, Sealer of Leather; Eben- ezer Allis, Sealer of Weights and Measures; Joseph Catlin and Joel Baker, Hog-reefs; Cyrus Rice, Deer-reef; James Gilmore and Josiah Boyden, Hay-wards; David Parker and Ebenezer Allis, Surveyors of Lumber. The deer were soon gone from the forests, and the official list has been otherwise somewhat changed,
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HISTORY OF CONWAY.
but since that day the soil has never ceased to bring forth men willing to fill these stations; and the succession has not failed.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Having thus reached a spot where the town has an organi- zation and a name, we may properly stop to gather up some facts of interest with respect to its earliest inhabitants.
The town, as was to have been expected, was first occupied upon its eastern border and within the district now known as "East Side." Here, upon the slope of the hill looking to- wards Deerfield, were the farm and dwelling house of Cyrus Rice, the first settler of Conway. Mr. Rice was from Barre .*
His house was upon the south side of an old and now unused road that led from the vicinity of John Field's, past the place lately occupied by Bradley Packard, to the present county road a little distance above the old tavern stand long known as the Hawley place. The first house was about twenty-five rods southeast of the spot now marked by an ancient cellar with bricks and rubbish, on which the family afterwards lived. A mound of stones has lately been raised on the original site. Here, as already mentioned, occurred the first death in our town. Here also was born, Jan. 10, 1764, the first child of Conway-Beulah Rice. The family had also sons; one of them, Stephen, became the father of the poet of this occasion, who is thus a lineal descendant of the first man.
Other settlers soon followed. A half mile south of Mr. Rice was Israel Gates (Barre) on a spot now occupied near the house of Cephas May. Still southward was the first house of Josiah Boyden (Grafton), a Revolutionary soldier, and probably the second man to come. His son David was the first boy the town had. And a daughter Mary, born Aug. 24, 1767,-the day of the first town meeting,-and afterwards the wife of Medad Crittenden, is still living among us and is the oldest inhabitant of Conway. Not far off were John Wing and Elijah May, neither of them of the very earliest; and also, probably, David
* The probability is that Mr. Rice came to Conway early in 1762 and cleared lands, planted crops, and built a house; that he brought his family in the fall of the same year; and that his wife died soon after reaching her new home. It would appear that Mr. Rice married again the following spring.
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THE FIRST CENTURY.
Parker. Half a mile west of Cyrus Rice, where John Field now lives, was James Dickinson (Somers). Northwest from him was John Bond (Grafton), and farther on westerly, at the top of the hill, Jonas Rice (Grafton), where his descendant Joel still lives. South of Jonas Rice, on a road now closed, was John Boyden (Grafton), a Revolutionary soldier. And north- west again from James Dickinson was Joseph Catlin (Deerfield), near by the present Josiah Boyden's. In his barn Mr. Emerson preached his first sermon. And here, still earlier, were baptized at one time seven infant children.
North of this eastern district, and where is now the great elm he planted, and at the place now occupied by Madison Stearns, lived Lieut. Robert Hamilton (Barre), long a soldier in the Revolution. Beyond, over the Hoosac hill, Consider Arms owned the land and sent his son Henry later to live upon it, where another Consider, grandson of the first, now is. North- westward was George Stearns, father of all the Stearnses. Fur- ther on Deacon Caleb Rice, moving afterward to the top of Arms' Hill, and to Genesee; and beyond him Silas Rawson. And still westward, Deacon Joel Baker (Sunderland) building soon, for Dennis Childs of the present time, what is now the oldest and what was probably the first framed house in Conway. Here is the oldest apple tree and the first tree in the town to bear fruit, which oldest tree is also found in other locations. South of Joel Baker, where Dexter Bartlett now lives, was Adoniram Bartlett, father of many Bartletts and authors of much wit; moving afterwards to the east of Robert Hamilton. And next towards the center Deacon Jonathan Root (Montague) and Daniel Stow, prominent but not early settlers. Half a mile north, near Morris Brown's, was John Thwing (Bristol, R. I.). Northwest from thence at John Clary's, Benjamin Pulsifer soon lighted for a little before his later settlement at the east side. A little below was Timothy Thwing, son of John, planting apple trees for his own and the Broomshire orchards on the place which the family still keep. Amariah, son of Timothy, is with us to-day, the oldest man in our town, having his mind yet clear, and with his natural force not spent.
Beyond the river, in Broomshire, was Israel Rice (Grafton), where Austin Rice now lives, and northward in the order of
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HISTORY OF CONWAY.
the present houses: Timothy Rice (Grafton), Theophilus Page (Conn.), William Warren (Grafton), John Batchelder, on the town farm, and a half mile beyond, where a cellar now remains, Nathaniel Goddard (Grafton). East of Israel Rice were John Broderick and Michael Turpey (Ireland), and southeast for a time, John Sherman (Shrewsbury), father of Caleb and John, where John B. Stearns now lives.
THE FIRST FRAMED HOUSE IN TOWN. BUILT ABOUT 1766. BURNED IN 1916.
Israel Rice and William Warren were the first of these set- tlers. Mr. Warren with the father of Mr. Rice explored the neighborhood and bought lands in 1762, the year of Cyrus Rice's coming. Two years later William and Israel undertook to visit their estates, but losing the former track up the Deer- field and striking the sharp banks of the South River at or below the point of Hoosac they could not cross and went back disconcerted. The next year they effected a landing, cross- ing near the present bridge, and prepared, Mr. Rice the frame,
.
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THE FIRST CENTURY.
Mr. Warren the logs, for a house. In 1766 they brought their families. One hung sheets over his frame for his bedroom, the other spread bark over his logs, whereupon it rained twelve days.
1142872
Jumping over Broomshire hill to the north end of "West Street," we find Samuel Newhall (Leicester) where Joseph New- hall now lives; south towards the four corners, David Harring- ton, with his son Jason, a Revolutionary soldier; west by William Stearns, Jonathan Smith (his son living later by the Broom- shire ferry); westward still over the hill, Deacon Caleb Allen, on a fine slope that keeps his name; and northwesterly James Warren (on the Tobey place). Returning to the main road, at the Harding place was Daniel Newhall (Leicester), popu- larly called "Wig Newhall," Revolutionary soldier, father of the Daniel of stories and humorous memory, and of other Daniels in long succession, though gone from Conway; westward again, Capt. Prince Tobey, and over the brow of the hill, where Rodol- phus Rice now lives, Jabez Newhall (Leicester). South again on the main track from Daniel Newhall were Horton, David Whitney (Grafton or Upton), gone to be first settler of Phelps, N. Y., and later, perhaps, Benjamin Wells, where George Stearns now is.
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