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 27
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Mch 7 1697-8 voted that if any person or persons shall leave open any of ye Meadow gates wilfully or carelessly within ye time of the meadow being inclosed : Such persons or their overseers shall be lia- ble to pay 2s 6d for every such offence ye one half to ye informer ye other to ye Townsmen for ye use of ye Town.
By this arrangement the bars were discontinued, a nuisance abated, and doubtless a great strain on the morals of travel-
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COMMON FIELD FENCES -- STOCK-MILLS.
ers removed. Sergt. John Hawks was accepted in place of Capt. Wells, to maintain the gate at Eagle Brook, and the fence was made into three divisions.
In 1699, the disputed question as to the rights of the public on highways was settled. The town voted " That all proprie- tors of land within ye meadows or Com'on Field, shall have liberty to feed or mow such highways which their land shall abut upon, and no other person.'
Lands were cultivated at Cheapside and Wisdom, and to protect the crops there, it was voted :-
Mch 1, 1700, y' w' cattle horse kind or any other creature soever usually impounded shall be found at liberty on ye westerly or north- erly side of Deerfield river within ye township of Deerfield shall be liable to be impounded provided they be found there within ye time of ye enclosing of ye common field.
That ye meadows be Cleared by ye Haywards by ye eleventh of ye instant March.
The bad effect of allowing stock to trample the land in the spring was then realized. In pursuance of this vote, the selectmen were charged with the duty of clearing the mead- ow of Hatfield horses by driving them into the Hatfield meadows. Voted : "That all ye common fence * * *
be kept up in good repair untill ye towns next election meeting in next March so as to pass ye fence viewers." This policy seems to have continued. The same vote was passed Sept. 15th, 1701 ; also, "That all swine of 16 inches or upward * * * found in ye meadows or common field unringed shall be impounded and Ringed before released out of yt pound ye owners * * to pay 6d a head for impounding 3d for ringing." Four divisions were made of the fence in 1702, and eight fence viewers chosen.
During this period the stock was branded or marked, and ran at large on the East Mountain ; the milch cows under the care of a " cow-keeper," hired by the town. His wages were assessed on the owners of the cows. A bull to run at large, was furnished at the expense of the town. In 1686, the peo- ple at Wapping procured a separate bull to run with their own herd.
Saw and Grist Mills. For some years the settlers got out boards, slit-work, and plank in saw-pits. Logs were squared with the broad axe and taken to the pit, where the work was done by two men, the " top-sawyer," who guided the saw, and
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ORIGINAL MILLS.
had the largest wages, and the "pit-man " whose place was under the log in the pit. About one hundred feet of boards was a day's work.
Grain was pounded in a mortar, or carried to Hatfield mill on horseback. This mill had no bolter; if flour was desired, the meal was sifted by hand, in a sieve, at home.
It is not known when the first sawmill was erected. One stood on Mill river as early as 1689, when the town author- ized the selectmen to bargain with Capt. John Allis of Hat- field, to build a corn mill upon the same stream. Mr. Allis died in January, 1690-91, before his mill was finished. Feb. 3d, 1690-91, a committee was authorized to make a bargain with Joseph Parsons, Sen., of Northampton, on essentially the same terms granted Mr. Allis. The mill put up by Par- sons stood on Mill river, "where the sawmill now stands," and where Mr. Phelps's sawmill stands to-day. It was prob- ably finished before Dec. 20th, 1692, at which date the town granted Parsons as part of the bargain, a tract of land,-
Att the uper end of the meadow comonly called Stebbins mead- ow all that tract of land that lies between ye last lot yt is now layd out and the comon fence; by estimation, 30 or 40 acres * * * bounded by the land of Maj" John Pynchon northeast; by the comon fence southwest; by the Dearfd river northwest, and by ye conion fence south east; sª Joseph Parsons being to make comon fence for it, as shall be found by messure proportionally to what other men doe for their lands on the meadows; and to pay rates att present only for so much of it as is Improvable.
"Ten acres of upland," was also granted. By the contract, signed Dec. 29th, 1692, Parsons was --
To take for his tole for Grinding ye twelfth part of all grain except wheat and Barly Malt and only the fourteenth part of wheat and ye eighteenth part of Barly malt: and for provender the fourteenth part : * *
* the mill to be set up and fit to grind att or before May 31, 1693, and to be kept in good Repair fit to doe ye towns work.
Should the mill be deserted, or destroyed, "except in case of extraordinary Providence as the Town being driven out by the enemie ; *
* the remainders of said Mill as Irons, Stones," &c., were to revert to the town, unless Parsons re- built. If a place more for ye Towns Benefit to have a mill set there," be found, Parsons is to " have the first offer of sd place. The town agree to furnish ye help of 6 cattle and two
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ROADS-SCHOOLS-RATES-HOUSES.
men to draw ye millstones to ye place ; sª Joseph Parsons to call for them in a time y' may be as little hindrance to their occasions as he can." These stones may have been procured from Mount Tom where Pynchon got millstones in 1666. The stone now lying in front of Memorial Hall was doubtless one of those set running by Parsons in 1693. Its dimensions agree exactly with those got out by Pynchon at Mount Tom. No further account of this mill appears; and it was probably destroyed by Indians during the war.
Aug. 3, 1699, Att a Meeting ye town, considering yt they were in great want of a mill to Grind their Corn, made Choice of a Commity, viz Ens Jno Sheldon; Benony Moor and Thos. French whose work it was to view and consider of a place or places * for to * erect a mill in as also to discourse with Mr. Joseph Parsons to see * * whether he will Rebuild his mill upon the Sawmill Streanı * * * in another place, or throw up his interest in a mill or mills at Deerfield.
Four weeks later Mr. Parsons was asking of the Proprictors " liberty to set a corn mill on Green river. Being considered, it was granted for ye space of a twelve month." If a mill was then built on Green river, it did not give satisfaction as it appears by a vote passed,-
March 11, 1700-1, That a Commity be chosen to discourse with Mr Joseph Parsons concerning the Corn mill built by him in Deer- field whether he will stand to his Bargin, either to maintain sd mill in good Repair fit to doe ye towns Grinding or throw it up into y" towns hands.
The same committee above named, except Edward Allen in the place of French, were chosen to apply this "prod " to Parsons, and nothing more is heard of the mill for ten years. This topic will be resumed at a later period.
Roads. Among the duties assigned the committee which laid out the Dedham Grant in 1671, was that of "apoynting the highways and laying out." Their report shows that the town street was then located, from the middle and each ex- treme of which, roads three rods wide were laid to the moun- tain on the east, and meadows on the west. They also pro- vided for roads two rods wide, running through each division of meadow, "so that every man may come to his land." These roads are essentially the same with those now in use.
The "Country highway" was the road to Hatfield through South Meadows, and up Bars Long Hill. Before 1687, there
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MEMORIAL LANE.
was a road leading southerly from the middle mountain road, in the rear of John Catlin's home lot, [now the Ware lot] almost exactly where the road to the Connecticut River rail- road freight depot, and the sawmill, now runs, and so through the woods east of Wapping through Turnip Yard to Sunder- land bridge.
March 16 1698-9, ye Committy Chosen to Consider ye mater (viz Lieutt David Hoyt: Ens Jno Sheldon and Edward Allyn, ) made yr Return to ye Town Clerk in ys maner: viz: * * % that they had stated and settled ye middle heiway leading up to ye mountain to be eight rods wide at ye front on Town Street: and then at ye end of eighteen rods and a half from ye front upon sd John Catlin's North line ye heiway comes to be Three Rods wide and so holdeth thurow- out to ye Reer.
This is Memorial Lane.
March 3d, 1700-1, Capt. Jona. Wells, Sergt. John Hawks, and Daniel Belding, were chosen to look up a road from the south end of the town, along the west side of the East Moun- tain, "to the head of Muddy brook swamp," as also "to view ye way now began to be made from Wapping towards Hat- field to se where they shall be stated if found to be feasible: and make Return of wt they find upon these accounts in writ- ing to ye Town." No return of this commission has been found.
In 1690, a road was laid across the land of Thomas French in Little Meadow, to give access to the lands at Old Fort Meadow. In compensation, French was given the same quan- tity, to be taken in the rear of his home lot-worthless side- hill, for rich meadow land. But the road has been carried off by the river long ago, while the side-hill still holds the Orthodox parsonage lot to the East Mountain.
March 5, 1693-4, Henry White & Simon Beaman and Jos Barnard * * are appoynted a Com'itty to examine the Antient Records and Acts of the form" Com'itty with reference to hieways in Dearfd Meadows: and accordingly State a hieway to the land on the west side [of the] rivr Com'only Called Carter's Land.
Nothing appears to have been done respecting the road at this time.
March 3d, 1700-1, Godfrey Nims, Sergt. John Allyn and Corp. Thomas Wells were chosen to lay this road. They re- ported June 14th, 1701, that they
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ROADS-SCHOOLS-RATES-HOUSES.
have laid out ye hie way to Carters land in this manner: we begin to turn out of ye hie way yt leads down into ye Neck in Samuel Car- ters lot on the northerly side of it next to M' John Catlins land : and to Run down there untill it comes to ye River: and then to run along by ye river until it comes of Henry White's lot:
Here we find the origin of " White Swamp." The river at this point has largely encroached on the meadow. and nearly the whole of the lots named have been washed away, and added to the Carter's Land farm opposite, where George W. Jones had the benefit of it. The committee also reported :-
As to ye hie way to y" Green River lands we turn out of ye Coun- try Road which is Easterly of the Green River Town plot, and to Run near upon a west line throw ye middle of sd Town plot down to ye River, and Runs over ye River into Peter Evans his lot: then Runs northwards into Joseph Petty his lot and across his lot untill it comes to y" North side of and so in Joseph Pettys lot untill it comes up ye great hill westerly and then it Runs in Benony Moors lot until it comes to the foot path and then it runs in ye foot path to the uper end of Green River lands: the breadth to be one Rod and a half except in the part of it from the Country Road down to and so thorow ye Town plot aforesd.
This part was what is now the Main street of Greenfield. The "country road," I suppose, included the present High street, and led from Deerfield to Northfield. The " foot path" was the Indian road, which crossing the Pocumtuck at Still- water, ran northerly through Wisdom and Greenfield Mead- ows, and up the hill at the right of Mrs. Eunice Williams's monument.
"Sarveyors of Roads" were chosen with the earliest town officers, and annually thereafter. Their duties were the same as those of to-day. Highway taxes could be paid at will in "specie " or labor, the latter " as he shall be warned thereto by the sarveigher." The price of labor on the road was fixed by the town and varied with the season and from year to year.
Schools. No town action regarding education is found un- til after the close of King William's War. The first school- house was built, and a school master hired, in 1698. Before this, doubtless, schools had been kept by dames in private houses. It has been seen that Mrs. Beaman had a school in 1694. In 1698 the town established a school, and enforced at- tendance by hiring a master at the expense of all those hav- ing children of school age.
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THE FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE.
Mch 7, 1698, It was agreed and voted yt a school be continued in y" Town : That all heads of familes yt have Children whether male or female, between ye ages of six and ten years, shall pay by the poll to s' school whether ya send such children to School or not
That a School house be built upon ye Town Charge in ye year 1698 ye dimensions of sª house to be 21 foot long eighteen foot wide and seven foot betwixt joynts
That a Com'ity shall be chosen to look after ye building of said School House, and to hire a school master
That ye persons for a Com'ity yt ye Town did choose and empower in ye carrying on ye school house aforesaid and in hiring a school mas- ter: were Mr. Jno. Catlin Benony Stebbins and William Armes:
Att a legal Town meeting in Deerfield, March 21, 1698, Capt Wells Moderator further relating to a school, it was y" agreed yt what children soever shall be sent to sd school above ye age of ten years or under ye age of six years shall pay for according to ye time ya shall improve sª school; voted affirmatively
This meeting was a special one, and no other business was transacted. The schoolhouse was built and a school master engaged. Probably " Mr. John Richards," who was certainly a resident in 1699, and school master in 1701-2-3. Another meeting was held Dec. 27th, 1698, when it was voted,-
That there be a schooll maintained in ye Town of Deerfield
Att ye same meeting ye Town agreed and voted yt from ye time of y" date hereoff, untill ye term of 20 years forwards be expired they will give twenty pounds towards ye maintaining of a Schooll in ye Town
This heavy tax, in the then exhausted condition of the town, shows the spirit of some controlling influence. In March, 1700, the school committee chosen were,-
Mr. Jnº Catlin, Sergt Jnº Hawks and Jnº Stebins * whose work shall be to hire a meet person or persons to teach ye Towns Children to Read and write as also to repair ye Towns School house at their discretion which is to be repaired at ye Towns Charge; as also to proportion ye providing of firewood to ye Scholars:
In 1701, a change of policy is noticed, although no cause for it appears. The town,-
Unanimously voted to make null and void their former act of twenty pounds for twenty years towards a School and have voted to pay fifteen pounds in pay yearly for ye space of Seven years from ye day of ys date hereof towards ye maintaining of a School in Deer- field : .
The Com'ity chosen for looking after the concerns of ye aforesd, were Ensigne Jno. Sheldon, William Arms, Sergt. Eliezer Hawks.
Their duties were defined to be the same as those given above. The committee for 1702 were Benoni Stebbins, God-
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frey Nims and Simon Beaman. In 1703, "Mr. Jno. Catlin : Dea. Hoyt : and Ebenezer Smead were chosen." They .-
Bargained with Mr Jno Richards to pay him for ye teaching of their Town children for ye year Twenty and five pounds in manner folowing: yt is to say They have by Bargin liberty to pay him ye one 3d part of sd sum in Barley and no more: ye other two 3ds in other grain yt is to say in indian corn : peas : or Rye in any or all of them : oats wholly excepted : all these aforementioned to be good and mer- chantable ;
The Town y" voted y' all children yt is to say boys from four to eight : and Girls from 4 to six years old yt live in ye Town plat shall pay their proportion of ten pounds for ye year ensuing whether they go to School or not:
This is the last record of any action on the subject of edu. cation until 1720, when the town had in a good degree recov- ered from its broken condition.
Rates, or Taxes. The first record of any rate was that raised Dec. 17th, 1687, when "Jonathan Wells was chosen Com'issioner to joyn wth ye Selectm" to take lists for the Country rate and officiate in ye business according to Law. That the Town & Ministr Ratte shall be raised upon Lands heads & flocks at the same prises as hath been ye last year past." It appears from the above, that this was not the first general tax; the previous impositions had doubtless been made under the direction of the Committee. Subsequent action of the town shows the " prises" (or valuation) to have been :-
Heads att 16 pounds; oxen 3 pounds, cows 2 pounds; 3 yr olds 2 pounds; 2 yearlings i pound ten; 1 year old 15 shillings; horses 3 pounds; 2 yr olds one pound ten; 1 year old 15 shillings; hoggs 10 shillings; sheep 5 shillings; lands 2 pounds per acre.
The "specia" in which the minister's rate was to be paid, was fixed at his settlement. For town rates, it was varied from time to time, probably as different crops were scanty or abundant. Rates were generally laid in December and for expenses already incurred.
In 1691-3, the town rate was paid in wheat and Indian corn in equal parts. In 1694, it was to be paid " one-half in indian corn at 2s a bushell, & one-half in fatted pork, at 2 pence half-penny a pound."
In 1695 the Green River lands were made " rate free," and in 1696, no tax was laid on "fat cattle and swine killed in ye town." No reason for this exemption appears.
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VALUATION OF LANDS.
In 1697, rates were to be paid in Indian corn at 2s; the next year in rye at 3s, barley 3s, Indian corn 3s, one-third each.
In 1699, the "Country Rate" was £5 for Deerfield. Swine were rated according to goodness: ten shillings for ye Best and so downward, when for market. "And wheras home- lots were last year Apprized According to Industry, yt now yª shall not be so aprized." The "specia" was "Rye at 3s per bushel, and Indian corn at 2s per bushell."
The prices fixed "for grain between man and man shall be thes folowing, namely, viz Winter wheat at 4s per bushell : Sumer wheat at 3s 6d per bushell : Rye at 3s per bushell : Bar- ley at 3s per bushell : peas at 3s per bushell: Indian Corn at 2s per bushell : and oats at Is 6d per bushell :"
Dec. 16th, 1700, "Lieut David Hoyt : Sergt. Jno Allyn : and Benony Moor : were chosen aprizers," to appraise "all lands and stocks Rateable in Deerfield * * * according to ye best of their Judgment upon the Rates set and prescribed for Aprizal ye last year:" a few weeks later, March 3d, 1700-1, "Ens Jno Sheldon was Chosen Com'isioner for Assesments
for ye year ensuing * Capt Jona Wells and Mr John * Richards and Ens Jno. Sheldon were chosen Assessors for the Country Taxes." The special functions of these three boards does not clearly appear. Down to 1702, the valua- tion of taxable property had continued as it was in 1686. In January of that year, a new departure was made. The regular meeting for December, 1701, was held and money raised as usual. There is no record of this action, but it ap- pears in the following votes :--
. Jan. 27, 1701-2, The Town then unanimously agreed and voted, yt notwithstanding their minister and Town Rates are already made yet yt they will alter the former way of Rating, which was by ye Country law by way of income The town then also voted yt heads shall be Rated at 24 pounds Estate * * As to aprisall of lands y& town proceeded in this maner folowing viz. : That the Great meadow and pine hill plain that is from little meadow hill and Jno Broughton's hill to Deerfield River and also Cheapside; Tho Frenches lot in Harrow meadow; log meadow; and part of Stebbines meadow; that is to say from the northerly part of it unto James Browns south line shall all be set at 30 shillings an acre:
* That Carters land: Newfort mowing land of ye 2d Division Capt Wellses pasture; from 2d Division hill to ye south line of Mr. Catlin's lot in 2d Divis- ion; with the Residue of Stebbinses meadow all to be set at eighteen
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ROADS-SCHOOLS-RATES-HOUSES.
shillings an acre; That ye Residue of harrow meadow and Eagle Brook plain from Capt Wellses pasture to 2d Division hill shall be set at fifteen shillings an acre :
That old fort meadow and little plain shall be set at ten shillings an acre :
That ye Residue of 2d Division, from ye South line of Mr. Catlins lot Southward shall be set at Six Shillings an acre; That Green Riv- er lands shall be set at five shillings an acre That ye Best home- steads shall be Aprized at Eight pounds and so to descend according to goodness to be aprized by ye Select men : Ens Jno Sheldon and Thomas French were chosen to joyn with the Select men in taking a list of all estate Rateable :
Cattle and horse kind to be aprised as in ye Country law; Year- ling Cattle and horses to be Aprised at ten shillings: Two year old cattle and horses at twenty shillings: 3 year olds at thirty shillings.
The taxes for this year's charges were paid in "Rye at 3S, barley at 3s, corn at 2s and oats at is 6d, an equal proportion of each."
DWELLINGS ; AND AN EVENING AT HOME.
The first houses of the settlers were doubtless of logs, one story high, "daubed " with clay. A common form was eight- een feet square, with seven feet stud, stone fire-places, with catted chimney, and a hip-roof covered with thatch. These structures generally gave way in a few years to large frame houses, covered with clo'boards and shingles, having fire- place and chimney of brick, which was laid in clay mortar, ex- cept the part above the roof, where lime was used. Of these houses, two styles prevailed ; one represented by the "Old Indian House," the other, less elaborate, by the house now [in 1888] standing on the Smead lot. This house is thirty feet square, two stories, with pitch roof, facing the street westerly. It is covered with cloveboards, apparently the original, with no signs of paint. It has four windows in front, and five at each end. The front door, a little south of the center, opens directly into the south front room, which is sixteen by eight- een feet. On the north of this is the huge chimney, which rises through the ridge, and the north front room, twelve by thirteen feet. North of the chimney is a large, dark closet. East of it is the kitchen, eleven by twenty feet, south of which is the buttery. Stairs to cellar and chambers occupy the southeast corner. The space over the kitchen is unfin- ished. The southwest chamber is fifteen by fifteen, the northwest twelve by thirteen. Each story is seven and a
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THE OLD INDIAN HOUSE.
half feet stud. The frame is of hewn timber, generally nine by fourteen inches. The plates are nine by sixteen ; those at the ends in the upper story project twelve inches over the walls, supported by the side plates, and studs on the inner edge. The rafters are sawed, four by four inches, and sup- ported by purlins which are framed into heavy beam rafters at the middle and each end of the roof. The whole building is of pine. There was no lath and plaster; the walls were made of matched boards. The ceiling was finished by plan- ing the joists and underside of the floor above; the floors were double or of matched boards.
The "Old Indian House," built by John Sheldon about 1696, stood at the north end of the training field, facing the south. Its frame was largely of oak. It was twenty-one by forty-two feet, two stories, with a steep pitch roof. In front, the second story projected about two feet, the ends of the cross beams being supported by ornamental oak brackets, two of which are preserved in Memorial Hall. A lean-to thirteen and a half feet wide, ran the whole length of the north side, its roof being a continuation of that on the main building.
The ground floor was thus thirty-four and a half by forty- two feet. Near the centre rose the chimney, about ten feet square at the base, with fire-places on the sides and rear. South of it was the front entry, which, including the stair- way, was eight by twelve feet. The lower floor was laid un- der the sill, which, projecting beyond the wall, formed a ledge around the bottom of the rooms, a tempting seat for the chil- dren. Stepping over the sill into the front entry, doors on either hand opened into the front rooms; stairs on the right led by two square landings, and two turns to the left, to a passage over the entry, from which at the right and left doors led to the chambers. In the rear of the chimney was a small, dark room, with stairs to the garret. Including the garret, there were five rooms in the main structure, each of them lighted by two windows with diamond panes set in lead.
The kitchen was in the central part of the lean-to, with windows in the rear; east of this was a bedroom, and west, the buttery and back entry.
The fire-place was a deep cavern, the jambs and back at
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ROADS-SCHOOLS-RATES-HOUSES.
right angles to each other and the floor. Here, hanging on nails driven into a piece of wood built into the structure for the purpose, hung the branding-iron, the burning-iron, the pot-hook, the long-handled frying-pan, the iron peel or oven slice, the scooped fire-shovel with stout tongs standing by. In one end was the oven, its mouth flush with the back of the fire-place. In this nook, when the oven was not in use, stood a wooden bench, on which the children could sit and study the catechism and spelling book by firelight, or watch the stars through the square tower above their heads, the view interrupted only by the black, shiny lug-pole, and its great trammels ; or in the season, its burden of hams and flitches of pork or venison, hanging to be cured in the smoke. The mantletree was a huge beam of oak, protected from the blaze only by the current of cold air constantly ascending.
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