USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, vol 1 > Part 20
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 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
"That they will give him 16 cowcommons of meadow land with a homelott that lieth on the Meetinghous hill.
That they will build him a hous : 42 foot long, 20 foot wide, with a lentoo of the back side of the house & finish sd house : to fence his home lott, and within 2 yeares after this agrement, to build him a barn, and to break up his plowing land.
198
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
ffor yearly salary to give him 60 pounds a year for the first, and 4 or 5 years after this agrement, to add to his sallary and make it eighty pounds."
"Att a meeting of the Inhabitants of Deerfield, Dec. : 17, : 1686, there was granted to Mr John Williams a certaine peice of land lying within the meadow fence : beginning att Joseph Selden's North line and so runs to Deerfield river North or North east : the owners of the comon fence, maintaining it as it is now att the day of the grant.
Jan. 5, 1686, the Comitty approves and ratifies the above sd prop- ositions, on the Condition Mr. Williams settle among them.
As attest Medad Pomroy, by ord' of the Comitty."
This real estate was afterwards " made sure to him and his heirs forever." The salary was to be paid "in wheat, peas, indian corn and pork, in equal proportion, at ye prices stated : viz .: wheat at 3 shillings 3 pence pr bushel ; peas at 2 shillings 6 pence pr bushel ; indian corn at 2 shillings pr bushel ; fatted pork at 2 pence half penny pr pound." In 1711 he was paid £63 in money.
The salary of Mr. Russell, who had been twenty-eight ycars minister at Hadley, was then about £80, in grain at the same prices. Mr. Williams married July 21, 1687, Eunice, daughter of the Rev. Eleazer Mather of Northampton, and continued "to dispene the blessed word of Truth " as the spir- itual guide of the people. Oct. 17th, 1688, a church was formed, and he was formally ordained as their minister for life.
The connection of the young minister with the.pastors of the two neighboring churches was intimate, and continued harmonious. His cousin and classmate at college, William Williams, was settled in the ministry at Hatfield. In the events of their settlement and marriage the Hatfield Wil- liams was a year in advance of John. Both were sons-in-law of the Northampton ministers, John of Eleazer Mather, and William, of Mather's successor, Solomon Stoddard. Both had large families, and each educated three sons for the min- istry. William preached at the ordination of two of John's sons, and a son of William at the funeral of a third. Later, a new link bound the ministry of Hatfield and Deerfield, when a daughter of William married Jonathan Ashley, the successor of John Williams. Some of the consequences of this intimacy will be seen hereafter.
During the land grant mania the minister was not forgot- ten, but, Dec. 13th, 1687,-
199
A SELF-DENYING MINISTER.
"There was granted Mr. John Williams 20 acres of land upon the Green river and a home lot ; provided he pay rates for it this year and so forward :"
Probably he found it difficult to meet the conditions, as no income could be derived from it during the war ; at any rate, he gave up the grant. By a vote of the town Dec. 23d, 1689, the salary of Mr. Williams was "for this present year 1689 seventy pounds." No other action for an increase in salary appears on record, unless it be the following vote :-
Dec. 29, 1693, at the desire of ye Rev. Mr Jnº Williams it was agreed upon and voted by ye town, yt sd Mr Jnº Williams shall have ye use of ye Towne home lot yt lies next his own home lot during his stay and continuance in ye work of ye ministry here in Deerfd and shall carry on ye work of ye ministry himself : sd Mr Jnº Williams to make and maintain all ye fence belonging to sd lot ; and not to break up any part of sª lot
It was difficult, if not impossible, for our impoverished peo- ple to pay the county, town and minister's taxes. In com- mon with his people, Mr. Williams endured the calamities and hardships incident to a frontier town. His small stipend was often in arrears.
He had a large family, ten children having been born down to 1702. Of these, seven survived, the oldest being thirteen years old. Notwithstanding his straitened circumstances, the tender-hearted, self-denying minister made the following declaration, which was presented to the town, March 3d, 1701-2, and ordered to be recorded. It stands to his credit on the records to-day, in strong contrast with records to follow :
for ye prevention of any future trouble about my sallery I doe free- ly acquitt ye Town of Deerfield from all dues upon ye account of Rates from my first Settlement to ye Rate of this present year 1701-2 and desire it may be entered upon Record ; more over be it known to Suruiuers yt ye time when my yearly Salery doth Begin is about ye midle of June :
JOHN WILLIAMS.
In a letter to Gov. Dudley the following October, Mr. Wil- liams writes :-
"When the country abated them, their rates formerly, i was yet moued from certain knowledge of their pouerty & distress to abate them of my salary for several years together, tho they never asked it of me, & now their children must either suffer from want of cloth- ing, or the country consider them & i abate them what they are to pay me ; i neuer found the people unwilling to do when they had ability ; yea they haue often done aboue their ability."
200
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
This pathetic statement presents a touching picture of the character and condition of pastor and people. The only out- . side help received by either before 1704, so far as appears, was a grant of ten pounds by the General Court in the suc- cessive years of 1696 and 1697.
Sequestered Land. "Dec. 17th, 1686, The Inhabitants voted that a piece of Land lying on ye meeting hous hill by estimation 4 acres be it more or less as also 2 percells of Land lying one on the east side and the other on the west side of the mouth of the Green river by estimation thirty acre be they more or less shall be and is sequestered for the ministry in Deerfield forever :"
The Green river lands are still held by trustees for the ben- efit of the "First Congregational Parish of Deerfield," to which they come by descent and are secured by legal enact- ment. The four-acre lot was the "church officers lot" of the original draft. It is the "Town home lot" voted Mr. Wil- liams in 1692, and is the lot south of Hitchcock's Lane, and includes the homestead of Robert Childs. In 1760, by leave of the General Court, all this lot, except the part south of the training field, and in front of the Ephraim Williams home- stead, was offered for sale "to accommodate tradesmen."
Meetinghouses. Every new Plantation was obliged by law to employ a minister, as a fundamental condition of its ex- istence. Meetinghouses were only less essential, but more latitude was allowed in that direction. By the terms of the Dedham Grant, the grantees were obliged to settle a minister within five years, but they were not enjoined to build a meet- inghouse ; that was to follow as a matter of course. No pros- perity, it was held, could be expected where this "Candle of the Lord" was wanting. If the meetinghouse was burned in the devastation of towns by the Indians, it was considered a mark of divine anger; and of mercy, when it escaped de- struction.
No record has been found of the time and manner of build- ing our first meetinghouse. In an examination of the ac- count book of John Pynchon of Springfield, "The Worship- ful Major Pynchon," of Philip's War, items are found which prove that a meetinghouse was built before the breaking up of the first settlement. It was probably a small, cheap affair, built of logs, put up by voluntary contributions, and not by a tax. It was erected before August, 1675.
201
MEETINGHOUSE HILL.
The following extract from the old account book is given partly as a curiosity from its age, partly for its historic value, but chiefly for its testimony on the subject in hand in nam- ing meetinghouse hill :-
August 19, 1673, agreed with John Earle that he shall haue one of My Homelots at Pacomtuck, ye one next ye church Lot, being nere 6 acres, wch is 28 rod Broad, for wch Lot & fencing wch I haue made on it, viz., ye 28 rods of five raile fence ; In lew of all, I am to haue of him & he hereby makes over to me, his meddow land agt Eagle Brooke over ye river, being nere about 8 acres, weh was ye 2d Devis- ion of mowing Land belonging to ye Lot No 26, wch he purchased from Joshua Carter. This persell of meddow Land, being nere about 8 acres, as he gueses it, he absolutely sells to me wth yt pt of ye 15 rod of 5 raile fence belonging to it, on ye meeting house hill, I allow- ing him beside ye homelot abovsd, more, 125 weh is due him & ald as above ; to this exchange & setlunt I must have ye proportion of wood- land belonging to ye 8 acrs I haue of him, & he is to haue the pro- portion of ye woodland belonging to ye 6 acrs he had of me wth all ye appurtenances to each of sd persels belonging.
To this agreamt witness our hands Aug. 19, 1673.
JOHN PYNCHON. JOHN EARLE.
It was agreed between vs yt if James Osborne chalenged any in- terest in ye Homelot aboue sd, Jo Earle hath ; that Jo Earle shall let him have 2 acrs of it, or some few rods more, he paying ye due worth of it, & satisfying for what he had expended on it ; provided sd Os- borne doe agree about it by Michelstide come 12 mo.
This fixes the fact of a meetinghouse hill. The following extract settles the question of a meetinghouse, and also shows further, that this people were building a house for their min- ister; another testimony to the prosperity and high charac- ter of the little colony :-
Rates at Pacomtucke, alias Deerfield, on my land there. Having disposed of some of my land there.
that wch I keepe is the farme lot acctd II cow-commons, & that I had of Maj. Lusher, 9 commons, in all 20 commons.
And at ye hither end, my 18 cow commons & 4 sheep comons.
Ist y 1674. The Minister's Rate on which I pay to Mr. Samuel Mather, Anno 1674, ending in Dec. 1674, is £03, 18s.
1675, 2d y. To Mr. Mather for ye y 1675, ending in Dec. 1675. They give me an acct of some commons being wanting, yt my Rate is 503, IIS.
To ye Rate to ye Minister's house this year they set me at fo7, OIS.
To ye little house for a Meeting House that ya Meet in & to make Highway this y 1675, I allowed £1.
202
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
If all the cow commons were taxed at the rate paid by Mr. Pynchon on his, the salary of Mr. Mather would be about fif- ty pounds, and the expense of building his house about nine- ty-seven pounds.
A second meetinghouse was probably built soon after the permanent settlement. The town voted March 11th, 1692-3, "that the meeting hous shall be new seated; that Deacon David Hoyt & Deacon Jn" Sheldon shall be 2 of ye persons to doe it and Ben" Stebins to be wth y" in sd work." From this time forward for one hundred and twenty-five years, "seating the meeting house " became a subject of frequent legislation and social agitation. The action of 1693 may have developed the fact that there was a lack of seats of high "dignity" for ambitious aspirants. That the delicate task of the seaters in this case was not executed without dissatisfaction, seems to appear in the next vote on the subject: "There shall be no Reference to former Seating in ye present Seating." But whatever the reason, a new meetinghouse was demanded, and provided, in the face of war and famine :-
Att a legal Town Meeting in Deerfd Oct 30th 1694 Ensign John Sheldon Moderator
That there shall be a meeting house Built in deerfield upon the Town charge voted affirmatively :
'That there shall be a committy chosen and impowered to agree with workmen to begin said building forthwith and carry it on fast as may be voted affirmatively
That y" meetinghouse shall be built ye bigness of Hatfield meeting house only ye height to be left to ye judgment and determination of ye committy voted affirmatively
That there shall be a Rate made of one hundred and forty pounds payable this present year in pork and indian corn in equal propor- tions for ye carrying on sd building voted affirmatively
For ye carrying on sd work there was chosen as a Committy Ltt David Hoyt Sergt John Hawks Henry White: Thomas ffrench : and Ens John Sheldon
That ye Committy above sd shall have full power to Bargain with and let out unto particular persons ye severall persalls of work for the carrying on and completing sd Building as ye falling hewing framing shingling clabording &c voted affirmatively
Att a legal Town Meeting in Deerfd Novemb: 22 1695 Godfrey Nims was chosen Collector to collect and gather two rates yt is to say a Town Rate and a Meeting house Rate both made in ye year 1694 which Rates he is to deliver being gathered to the Selectmen
The records of the town meetings above and that following are given in full :-
203
BUILDING THE MEETINGHOUSE.
Jan 15th 1695-6. Att a legal Town Meeting in Deerfield John Catlin Moderator
There being a place or plat of land agreed upon by ye Town whereon to set there meeting house now in building: ye Town have left it with ye committy chosen for to carrie on ye building of sd house where about on sd plat to set sd house as also ye scituation of ye same Voted affirmatively
That there shall be a Rate Granted to be paid in pork and indian corn att an equall proportion for defraying what charge shall be ex- pended on se Meeting house between this time and this time twelve month (yt is after ye first or present Rate is run out) which Rate is to be paid some time in ye month of January 1696-7 Voted affirma- tively
That ye modell for y" seats in sd meeting hous shall be after ye present modell of Hatfield Meeting House Seats only two short seats on each side of the house more Voted affirmatively
That ye panels or boards of sd seats shall be of pine boards and not wainscot Voted affirmatively
The work went slowly on, but at length the edifice was so far completed that it could be occupied. There was no cer- emony of dedication. It was not set apart exclusively for sacred purposes. The meetinghouse of early days was liter- ally a house for meetings of all kinds. Town meetings were held in the meetinghouse here, until the "old meeting- house " was pulled down in 1824. It was usually the place of storing the town stock of ammunition, and the town bier. If our new building was not consecrated, certain other pro- ceedings were thought necessary before it should be used for divine worship. The "Seater" was called to do his work, that each citizen could listen to the " blessed word of Truth," as it fell from the lips of their beloved minister, from a prop- er and becoming position.
There were real aristocratic distinctions in this little de- mocracy, and nowhere were they more apparent than in the meetings for religious exercises. No one seems to have doubted the fitness of this condition of society ; how to rank individuals under it, was the disturbing element. "Age" was fixed by the calendar ; " Estate " by the rate book ; " Dig- nity " there was the rub! Few at this day can realize the social condition among the founders of New England. They were still bound by the fetters of custom and habit brought from motherland. Emancipation from its aristocratic prac- tices came only with the slow growth of democratic ideas, and emancipation from kingly rule.
204
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
Rank was graded in every town from the minister, esquire, captain, selectman, down through the different stations in the nicest manner. The wife of a corporal must give way before the lady of a sergeant, but her compensation lay in being able to take precedence over the wife of the private soldier. The punctilios of these poor, ragged, half-starved, incipient republicans seem laughable enough in this irrev- erent age. But it has its sad, as well as comic element. How much heart-burning and jealousy was engendered. How much loss of self-respect. How much wasting of hard earnings to keep up appearances on Sunday and Lecture day. But can we afford to smile at these ways of our ancestors ? Were they laid in an even scale, over against the folly and extravagance of our time ; or the sterling integrity of their leading men to balance the character of ours, would not the latter surely kick the beam?
However we may regard this question of rank, it was real business with our worthy sires, of equal importance, it seems, with their personal security. This is shown at the town meeting held Oct. 31st, 1696, where the two subjects acted upon are treated with equal respect. Voted :-
Thatt all Train Souldiers belonging to the Town of Deerfield shall labor about their fort ye next Monday and Tuesday being y" 2d and 3d days in November next ensuing for a generall way beginning att one certain place of ye fort and so going on Voted affirmatively
That there shall be five men chosen as seaters to seat yt is to say to determine where every person to be seated shall sit in ye new meeting house Voted affirmatively
That Deacon Hoit Deacon Sheldon Mr Jn" Catlin Edward Allen and Thomas French shall be ye seaters for ye seating of ye new meet- ing house Voted affirmatively
That ye Rules for seating of persons shall be age state and dignity Voted affirmatively
Three years later, the edifice is still unfinished.
Janu'ry 2 1698-9, voted, that jice and board be provided for ye meeting house Galleries upon ye Town charge to be paid for in ye year 1699
Ye Town confirmed ye first committy chosen for ye building of sd meeting house to see sd Galleries finished :
The next vote directed the galleries to be finished by the last day of December, 1700.
At length, after seven years' labor, the meetinghouse is
205
SEATING THE MEETINGHOUSE.
ready for occupancy in all parts. But the galleries have not been dignificd. How this is to be done becomes the exciting topic. Naturally the task would be assigned to the two dea- cons and their associates, who had successfully solved the same problem in the "body." No: for this important matter a town meeting must be called, which every voter must at- tend under a penalty of five shillings. The record is given in full, as due such a grave matter :-
Oct. 2, 1701. Att a legall town meeting in Deerfield Oct 2d 1701 Lieutt Hoyt moderator
That Seaters shall be chosen to seat ye meeting house Voted af- firmatively
That 5 men shall be chosen for sd work was voted affirmatively
The persons chosen to seat ye meeting house were Capt Wells: Lieutt Hoyt: Ensign Sheldon: Sergt Eliezer Hawks and Thomas French:
As to estimation of Seats ye Town agreed and voted yt ye fore seat in ye front Gallery shall be equall in dignity with ye 2d seat in ye Body of ye meeting house :
That ye fore seats in ye side Gallerys shall be equall in dignity with ye 4th seats in ye Body of ye meeting house :
That ye 2d seat in ye front Galery and ye hinde seat in ye front Gal- ery shall be equall in dignity with ye 5th seat in ye Body of ye meet- ing house
That ye 2d seat in ye side Galerys shall be esteemed equall in dignity with ye 6th in ye Body of y" meeting House :
That ye hinde seat in ye side Galerys shall be esteemed the 7th seat in dignity and the 3d seat in y" front Galery ye 8th in dignity:
That ye Rules which ye seaters shall seat persons by shall be : age : estate : place and qualifications :
It will be observed that the four highest military officers in town are on the board of seaters. Two of them are dea- cons, to be sure, but in the records their ecclesiastical titles are sunk in the military. Is there any significance in this fact ? Does it proclaim that all rebellion, by ambitious spir- its whose yearnings for a high grade of seats may not be sat- isfied, shall be put down by the strong hand? Or does it simply imply, that, as these men had few social equals, they were thus delivered from temptation in their official action, and could safely rank themselves No. I without giving of- fence?
TOWN MEETINGS.
The first town officers on record were chosen at a meeting without date, but which appears to have been held December
206
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
16th, 1686. At this meeting Thomas Wells was chosen mod- erator :-
Wm Smead Joshua Pumry Jno Sheldon Benoni Stebbins Benj Hastings and Thomas French ware chosen Selectmen Townsmen or Overseers to continue in office until oths be chosen and they dis- charged according to law. Jonathan Wells was chosen commission" to joyn wth ye Select" to take lists for the County Rate and officiate in ye business according to law
That the Town and Ministers' Rattes shall be raised upon Lands heads & flocks att the same prices as hath been ye last year past. Voted in ye affirmative * * *
Edward Allyn Thomas Broughton & Thomas Allison were chosen servers for ye year ensuing.
Philip Mattoone Jonath Church & Robart Alexander were chosen Haywards for ye year ensuing * * *
That ye Selectmen Townsmen or Overseers aboue named shall haue powr to order all ye prudentials of ye Town.
A " Town brand " was established, and all horses ordered " to be branded y' wth on the left shouldr." Grants of want- ing land were made, and the whole action appears to have been that of an independent commonwealth. As a matter of form, the land grants were approved by the Committee. In point of fact, the authority of the Committee at this time was little more than nominal, and their meetings were held mere- ly to ratify the action of the inhabitants. The last act of the Committee was December 20th, 1687, when " Joseph Barnard was, with the consent of the Town of Derefield, and the ap- robation of the Comitte appointed Clark and Recorder, for the Towne of Deerefield, as atteste, Medad Pomry, by order of s' Comitte."
Down to this time, the meetings and action had been of "the Inhabitants." After this the meetings were "town meetings." The voters collectively were called "the Town," and their action, that of "the Town;" and to this day, the term, "Town of Deerfield," has two distinct meanings recog- nized in law : One, a certain extent of territory bounded by fixed lines : the other, the legal voters, acting collectively, or by their chosen agent. A third meaning, more loosely ap- plied, and used in this work, is the old village on the "Town Plat," laid out in 1671. This is still called "Old Deerfield," "Old Town," and "Town Street." Those living here were called " Town's people," and those scattered in the outlying districts, "farmers."
207
TOWN OFFICERS.
Town meetings seem to have been called on slight provo- cation, but the method of warning does not appear. At least sixty town meetings were held before 1704. Town officers were usually chosen in March, when the general business of the town was transacted; the time fixed for "opening the meadows," in September ; and rates laid in December.
"The Town" acted on all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community: Divided the land, built fortifications, meetinghouses, schoolhouses, ferry boats, and pounds ; hired the minister and schoolmaster ; chose military officers; laid out highways and graveyards ; levied rates, prescribed the " specie " in which it should be paid, and fixed its price ; fixed the price of grain betwixt man and man, and the price of labor ; looked carefully after the common field, the fences and the stock; fixed the time for opening and closing the meadows; regulated the building of mills, and settled the toll for grinding and sawing; rented the sequestered land; en- forced attendance on divine worship and its own meetings. The civil officers chosen were Recorder, Townsmen, Com- missioner of Assessment, Assessors, Collectors, Tithingmen, School Committee, Wardens, Seaters, Surveyors of High- ways, Fence-viewers, Haywards, Hog ringers, Town meas- urers-of land-Town appraisers, Clerk of the market, Sealer of weights and measures, Sealer of leather, Packers, Survey- ors of hemp and flax, Surveyors of wheat and flour, Survey- ors of clapboards, Cullers of brick. Cullers of shingles, Cullers of lumber, Pound-keeper, and Treasurer; but the latter was not chosen until 1720. The Collector had charge of the "specie "-always pork or grain-in which rates were paid. Most financial transactions were by barter or settled by or- ders. In 1686, Deerfield was indicted for neglecting to choose Cullers of brick.
Among other transactions at the first "Town meeting " was laying out the wood lands. The list below contains the names of all the Proprietors of that date, with the number of Cow Commons held by each.
A list of the wood lots as they were Drawn April 20 1688. lying in two Divisions the first Division beginning at the Long Hill att y" left hand [of the highway and ending] att Hatfield bounds ye 2d Division beginning att sd bounds on ye othr side of the highway and ending att ye long hill running east & west.
208
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
No. of Lots.
1
I NathIl Sutlief
812 1234
26
Eleazer Hawks
IO
15
2
Sam11 Hinsdell
12
18
27
Jos Barnard
16
2.4
3
Tho Root
3 1/2
5 14
28
Col Jnº Pynchon
I9
28 12
4
Joseph Seldon
I3
1912
29
Benoni Stebbins
26
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.