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 5
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In default of any subsequent action to that end, this "Lib- erty of a touneship" may well be taken as an Act of Incorpo- ration of the town. In this act there is no provision obliging the settlers to seek "the aduice of the Elders of the 2 neighboring churches" in procuring a minister; which pro- viso in the Dedham order, may have been obnoxious to these sturdy independents, and caused their bold push for territo- rial and ecclesiastical liberty. It is probable, moreover, that influence from a third "neighboring church" had already practically disposed of the question of the minister. Samuel Mather, a nephew of Eleazer Mather, ten years minister at Northampton, was called to provide for the spiritual wants of the new town. He seems to have been paid about thirty- seven pounds a year. There is, however, no evidence that a church was formed at this time, or that Mather was regular- ly "settled." We find John Pynchon paid taxes for his sup- port from December, 1673, until the settlement was broken up in 1675. A meetinghouse was built before August 1675.
The territory of Pocumtuck, as laid out under the above grant, is almost identical with that now occupied by the towns of Deerfield, Greenfield and Gill. The farm of two hundred and fifty acres for the "countrys vse " was laid out in the north part of the additional grant. "Country Farms," in Greenfield, probably indicates its location. More will be found on this subject later.
The prudential affairs of the incipient town were nominal- ly under the control of the committee of six before named, but practically in the hands of those most interested. This appears from the following record of two meetings recovered from a collection of old papers in Connecticut. It is the earliest known record of action by the plantation, and will be given in full :-
39
PIONEERS OF POCUMTUCK.
Nouember 7th, 1673:
At a meeting apoynted by the Comitee ffor the plantation of pa- comtucke of the Inhabitants, and proprietors of the Lands there:
These following particulars proposed by the Comittie at the said meeting to the Inhabitants and proprietors there ffor their consider- ation:
1. Whether it be not best and most conducable to the weal & Settlement of the plantation ffor the proprietors to laye downe all their wood lands now in propryetie to common-As also all those lands they recaued ffrom the Countrye, in leiw of what they parted with to Hatfeild.
This proposision was voted in the affirmative in both the parts And ffurther the said Inhabitants and proprietors, doe by these pres- sents, ffor themselues and their successours, ratifie, confirm, and es- tablish, the above proposision, vis: to laye downe all their woodlands now in proprietye to common, -As also all those lands they receaued from the Countrye in liew of what they parted with to Hatfield pro- vided withall, the said proprietors reserve to themselves and succes- sours, a Comon right in the aforesaid lands and in all other lands belonging to the said plantation that are yet undivided according to the maner of other plantations:
2d. That all public Charges respecting the ministers sallerye or maintenance bee leuied and raised on lands for the present till the said towne be in a capasitye to manage their own affairs and may see cause to alter or some other way be agreed on by the Comittee.
This was voted in the affirmative by the proprietors
3d. Whether there should be a speedye course taken that those of the proprietors who want land of their measure which should have binn truely laid out to them be satisfied, to prevent future trouble.
This was voted in the affirmative, provided every person wanting his proportion, shall euince it by testimonye to the Comittee by the 29th of September next ensuing :
The Marck of
Richard Weler :- Robert Hinsdell
John Plympton Samuel Hinsdell
Nathaniel Surly :- John ffarrington
Joshua Carter :-
Experience Hinsdell Thomas Hastings ffrancis Barnard
Samson Frary John Barnard
Quintin Stockwell
John: Weler
Samuel Daniel
Joseph Gillet
Samuel Herenton:
James Tufts
Barnabus Hinsdell
John: llinsdell
John Allin Ephraim Hinsdell Daniel Weld Moses: Crafts:
The settlers here at this time were those who held their lands by virtue of being original Dedham grantees, or their legal successors, or men who had been induced to settle here by grants of land from the Proprietors. Other portions of the Grant had been, as we have seen, set out to individual owners. The undivided and ungranted remainder, which in- cluded Cheapside and Great River-the territory given the Proprietors "in liew of what they parted with to Hatfield "- was the land now held "in propryetie" by the present Pro-
40
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
prietors. The "Inhabitants" included all actual settlers; and to the "Inhabitants," it will be noted, the seven mile square grant was made in May, 1673. By the record of the meeting above, it is seen that the interest of the "Proprie- tors " was merged with the larger grant of the "Inhabitants." All became joint owners, and they were the body hereafter known as the "Proprietors," while the "Inhabitants" of the future, included these and all new comers. The organization of the Proprietors was kept up more than a hundred years, and until all this land was disposed of. The individual in- terest in this large estate was according to the number of cow commons held by each at the time of the consolidation. Their Record books, full and complete, are preserved in the Archives of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association.
This change in the tenure of land was an important one. Desirable lands were released which could be offered to new settlers. Liberal offers brought many adventurers to the place ; a public house became necessary, and Moses Crafts applied for authority to keep one. Sept. 27, 1674, the Court at Northampton issued him a license "to keep an ordinary at Paucumtuck, and sell wines and strong waters for one year, provided he keep good order in his house."
SECOND MEETING.
Novemb' 17, 1674. It is ordered by the Committee, that whereas according to a former order by the said Comittee, there having binn a list of land by the proprietors of Deerfeild presented which are wanting of their true measure, and their being at· present some ob- jection aboute some considerable error in that last measure &c, that therefore, there shall be 14 dayes, time allowed in which any proprie- tor or proprietors of the towne aforesaid, haue libertye to try or make triall of any part or parcells of the lands afore measured where they are the most jealous of mistakes, and if there be no considerable errors found, then the Committee to conclude the Testimony of the fformer measurers to be valid, in the particular parcells that are want- ing, provided they giue notice to Robert Hinsdell, when they meas- ure, to go with them The Committee haue appointed Joshua Car- ter and Jno Allen to measure any lands as aforesaid & to be paid by the whole in some small piece of land
The Committe with the proprietors have granted unto Mr. Saml Mather & his heirs forever within the township of Deerfeild an allotment to the quantitie of a sixteen Common alotment viz 48 akers viz that eight common lott that was the church lott of Ded- ham and an eight common lott more in the most convenient place provided he be resident in said town foure years ffrom the time of his ffirst dwelling here.
41
DEERFIELD FIRST NAMED.
The Committee with the proprietors aforesaid haue granted to Richard Weller and his heirs foreuer: twenty akers of land part of which lying in two percells he desires known to the proprietors & the rest as conveniently for place as may be, provided he be a resident for his dwelling ffoure yeares ffrom the time of his first settlement with his familye. Also they have granted to him a hoame lott.
The Comittee with the proprietors abouesd have granted and giuen to Sergt plimpton and his heirs forever within the township of Deer- field a hoame lott allsoe a twelue common lott viz 36 akers of land in the most convenient place as may be, provided he be a resident for his dwelling there 4 years ffrom the time of his first settlement there-
The Committee, with the proprietors, doe Confirm the exchange of land between Leeft Clarke & themselves & Saml Hinsdell, & have granted to Leeft Clarke a house lott where he now hath accepted of
The Towne have granted with the Committee to Zebediah Wil- liams a house lott of 4 akers as conveniently for place, as may be provided he dwell on the same for ffoure yeares.
On the back of this folio page is endorsed "Noumbr 1674, Mr Mathers Grant, Rich Wellers Grant plimpton &c tran- scribed." If, as it appears in the last item of the above record, the "towne" took the initiatory steps in the grant to Zebediah Williams, it is the earliest action of the settlers as a town, yet discovered.
In the above paper, and from this time forward, our plan- tation was called Deerfield. By what authority, or for what reason, is left to conjecture. Springfield was doubtless named from Springfield in England, the home of Wmn Pyn- chon its founder ; Brookfield, says tradition, from its streams; Hadley and Hatfield were also named from towns in Eng- land; Southfield (now Suffield), Westfield and Northfield, from location in respect to the older settlements : Greenfield from Green river. An abundance of deer in this locality may have suggested Deerfield.
The settlers found the meadows clear of trees, except the elms and maples, which fringed the sinuous Pocumtuck, or were mirrored in the quiet ponds which they embowered. Here the natives had cultivated their corn, beans, squashes, pumpkins and tobacco. Frequent burnings had kept the woodlands clear of underbrush, to the detriment of timber trees, which were not abundant, except in swamps and wet ravines. It was not difficult to traverse the forests on horse- back, and tours of observation and discovery were generally made by mounted men. Soon after the permanent settle-
42
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
ment and for many years, the woods were protected from depredations, and the cutting of timber regulated by the au- thority of the town.
Along the town Street, houses were built upon the most available spots nearly its whole length. Some lots can now be identified as those drawn by the occupants in the original draft ; others, less certainly, by subsequent ownership; inci- dental data give still less assurance in other cases. The de- scription hereafter given, however, may be regarded as sub- stantially correct. The growth of the colony was rapid. Samuel Hinsdell, the pioneer, built a house in 1669. Samson Frary followed the next year. In 1673 at least twenty fami- lies were on the ground.
The road from Hatfield came through Bars, Mill, and South Meadows, entering the Street from the southwest. on land long since washed away by the Pocumtuck. The Town Street of 1671 was not the comparatively dry and level thor- oughfare of to-day. Going either north or south from Meetinghouse Hill, which was by no means the smooth area now represented by our "Common," the road plunged abruptly into a quagmire, crossed by a " corduroy " causeway. Remains of that on the northern side were dug up from a depth of ten feet, about 1870. Some seventy-five rods be- yond this place a steep rise was met, while still northerly thirty rods, the road again fell off into a swamp, trend- ing eastward from the Sheldon lot. This, swamp, says a family tradition, remained a mass of tangled alders for eighty years after the settlement. By the same authority the timbers of the barn now standing on the Sheldon lot were cut on the margin of this swamp before 1730. Each of these depressions crossing the street marked the site of a former bed of the Pocumtuck river.
On three sides of the village lay the open meadows, spreading two miles north, two miles south, and about one mile to the west. Beyond this narrow circuit the unbroken forest stretched away to Canada on the north, to Lancaster on the east and the Hudson on the west. The nearest set- tlement was Hatfield, on the south, through which was kept up communication with the civilized world.
The hardy yeomanry, some of them born in England, and well on in years, all seeking a permanent home in the New
43
BIOGRAPHY OF THE PIONEERS.
World, appear to have lived here in quiet contentment. Peace and plenty smiled upon the adventurers. The rich alluvial bottoms were easy of cultivation. The virgin soil yielded abundant crops of wheat, peas, rye, Indian corn, beans and flax. The men became skilled in woodcraft. Game abounded in the forests, while the waters teemed with the choicest fish. Their flocks and herds had increased rapidly and the Common Field had been inclosed with a sub- stantial fence to protect the crops from the stock which roamed on the surrounding hills. A minister of their own choice was going in and out before them, and the young colony seemed established on a foundation of peace and prosperity. The dark cloud looming in the distance was un- observed or unheeded. The settlers had lived on the most familiar terms with the Indians and had no doubt of the fidelity of their dusky friends. The tormenting fear of their treachery, which afterwards so harrassed their children, found no place with the pioneers. When news of the out- break in far off Plymouth reached them in the summer of 1675, it brought no disquiet to them. This trusting people could not conceive the horrors of an Indian war, and none dreamed that the besom of destruction, which was to sweep them from the face of the earth, was already poised in the air above them.
Biographical Notes on the men here before Philip's War, with location of their home lots, so far as ascertained. The numbers refer to the original draft. [See ante, page 19.]
Allen, John, son of Samuel of Windsor, Conn., was of the same stock as Ethan Allen. He married in 1669, Mary, daughter of William Hannum, of Northampton, and was killed with Capt. Lothrop at Bloody Brook, Sept. 18, 1675. He left three children who settled in Connecticut, where descendants are numerous.
Barnard, Francis, born in England in 1647, was an early settler at Hartford, whence he removed with the founders of Hadley in 1659. A genuine frontiersman, he pushed on to Pocumtuck with the first wave of emigration. The return- ing tide left him at Hadley, where he died in 1698. He married in 1664, Hannah Marvin. In 1677 he married widow Frances Dickinson. He had six children, from whom the
44
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
Connecticut valley Barnards are descended. An unmarried son, John, was killed with Lothrop.
Barsham, Philip, was of Hatfield in 1672. He was killed with Lothrop, leaving a widow-Sarah-and children. Noth- ing more concerning him has been found.
Bartholomewo, William, was a carpenter, from Roxbury. He married in 1663, Mary Johnson ; settled on house lot No. 10, the Col. Joseph Stebbins lot. He had five children. Surviv- ing Philip's war, he retired to Braintree; but did not forget his old home, and in 1677 was one of the petitioners for aid in a resettlement. In 1685 he sold his home lot to Daniel Belding, and removed to Branford, Connecticut.
Carter, Joshua, late from England. He lived on that part of No. 36, occupied by the late William Sheldon. He mar- ried in 1663, Mary, daughter of Zechariah Field; was killed with Lothrop, leaving three children, who settled in Connect- icut.
Crafts, Moses, son of Griffin of Roxbury, born in 1641. He married in 1667, Rebecca, daughter of Peter Gardner, and had, in 1674, at least three children. Sept. 29th of that year he was licensed by the Court at Northampton to " keep an ordinary." He retired to Hatfield on the breaking up of the plantation, thence to Branford, Conn., and in 1683 he set- tled in Wethersfield, where he was living in 1702.
Daniels, Samuel, son of Robert of Watertown, was an origi- nal Dedham proprietor and drew house lot No. 36-the Orlando Ware place -which he occupied. The lot was owned in 1704 by John Catlin. Daniels returned towards the Bay, and his subsequent history is unknown.
Farrington, John, from Dedham, settled on No. 18, the lot now owned by C. A. Stebbins. He married in 1649, Mary Bullard ; returned to Dedham, where he died in 1676. His descendants are numerous in Eastern Massachusetts.
Field, Zechariah, son of Zechariah of England, Dorchester and Hatfield, born in 1645. He married in 1670, Mary Webb, and died here in 1674, leaving three children, who removed to Connecticut, and afterwards to Northfield.
Frary, Samson, son of John of Medfield, was of Hatfield in 1668, and here in 1670, the second known settler. He mar- ried in 1660, Mary Daniels, of Medfield. The last of his five children was born in 1675. He returned at the Permanent
45
HAWKS AND HINSDELL.
Settlement, and with his wife perished when Deerfield was sacked by Hertel de Rouville, Feb. 29, 1704.
Gillett, Joseph, son of Jonathan of Dorchester and Windsor, born in 1641. He married in 1664, Elizabeth, daughter of John Hawks of Hadley, and settled on lot No. 32-the Dr. Willard lot-which his heirs sold in 1684, to Samuel Carter. He fell with Lothrop, leaving seven children, who settled about Windsor and Simsbury, where they left posterity.
Harrington, Samuel, here in 1673. Antecedents unknown ; wounded in the attack, Sept. 12, 1675 ; married in 1677, the widow of Nathaniel Sutlieffe; was of Hatfield, 1679, and not found later.
Hawks, John, son of John of Hadley, occupied 16 cow com- mons of Col. Pynchon's land here in the summer of 1675. He was active through Philip's war; was in the Falls fight ; and one of the brave men from Hadley who went to the suc- cor of Hatfield, when attacked by Indians May 30, 1676, when he was wounded. He married in 1667, Martha Bald- win, with whom he lived ten years. He became a permanent settler in 1683, and married in 1696, Alice, widow of Samuel Allis. She was killed Feb. 29, 1704, when all his children and grandchildren of the name were lost. In his old age he removed to Waterbury, Conn., to live with his only surviv- ing child, who had married Jonathan Scott of that town.
Hinsdell, Robert, born about 1617; one of the founders of the church at Dedham, in 1638, and of that at Medfield, in 1650 ; was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company ; removed to Hadley in 1672, and was here the next year with five stalwart sons and one married daughter. His second wife, Elizabeth, widow of John Hawks of Hadley, he married in 1672. He fell at Bloody Brook with three of his sons.
Hinsdell, Barnabas, son of Robert, born in 1639; lived on No. 9-the Ralph Williams lot-was of Hatfield in 1666, where he married Sarah Taylor. He fell with Lothrop, leaving five children, who retired to Connecticut.
Hinsdell, Samuel, son of Robert, born about 1642; of Had- ley in .1666, and, as has been stated, the first settler here; was one of the most prominent men until his death at Bloody Brook. He married in 1660, Mehitable Johnson. Their son Mehuman was the first white man born in the town. He left
46
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
six or seven other children, from whom the Hinsdales of Deerfield and Greenfield were descended.
Hinsdell, Experience, son of Robert, born in 1646; married at Hatfield in 1672, Mary, daughter of John Hawks, and at once brought his bride here, where two or three daughters were born. He was one of the guides for Capt. Turner on his march to Peskeompskut, May 18, 1676, and was lost in that expedition.
Hinsdell, John, son of Robert, born in 1648. Little is known of him save that he was a settler in 1673 and was lost with Lothrop, leaving a family, of which nothing certain has been found.
Hinsdell, Ephraim, son of Robert, born in 1650. He of all the sons survived Philip's war. He settled in Hatfield, where he married in 1676, Mehitable, daughter of John Plympton, and died in 1681.
Mather, Samuel, son of Timothy of Dorchester, born in 1651; graduated at Harvard in 1671; was minister here in December, 1673, and may have been earlier ; was nephew to Increase, and cousin to Cotton Mather, the famous Boston ministers. Despairing of a permanent colony here, in 1680, he settled in Branford, Conn., and afterwards in Windsor, where he died in 1728. A volume of his printed sermons is in Memorial Hall.
Nims, Godfrey, bought home lot No. 35, in 1674, but I do not find him living here until the Permanent Settlement.
Plympton, John, of Dedham, 1642, removed to Medfield, and thence here before 1673. Escaping the dangers of Philip's war, he returned in 1677, when the war was supposed to be over, to rebuild his house. Sept. 19 he was taken captive by a band of barbarous marauders under Ashpelon, carried to Canada, where he was burned at the stake. He was called "Old Sergeant Plympton," and was doubtless born in Eng- land. He married Jane Dummer, by whom he had thirteen children. His son John was a soldier under Capt. Moseley in Philip's war ; another son, Jonathan, fell at Bloody Brook.
Plympton, Peter, son of John, born in 1652; married Mary Munden ; was in Moseley's company in Philip's war; came back at the resettlement, but removed to Marlboro about 1700, where he died in 1717.
47
SMITH, STEBBINS AND STOCKWELL.
Smcad, William, son of widow Judith of Dorchester, born before 1640 married in 1658, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lawrence of Hingham ; was of Northampton, 1660. In 1674 he bought house lot No. 25 of Thomas Fuller, an original proprietor, where he built a house-perhaps the one now [1886] standing there-and where he died before 1704. He had ten children, and was probably the ancestor of all of the name in the country. His oldest son, William, born in 1661, was killed with Lothrop. His widow and three daughters were ' killed in the assault of Feb. 29, 1704.
Smith, Martin, probably from New Jersey ; returned at the Permanent Settlement, was captured in 1693, by Indians, and remained a prisoner in Canada until 1698, when he returned to find his wife, Sarah, under a sentence of death for mur- dering her illegitimate babe. She was hanged at Spring- field, Aug. 25, 1698. Her pastor, Rev. John Williams, preached a sermon there on the occasion, which was printed. Martin perished in the assault of 1704.
Stebbins, John, son of John of Northampton, born in 1647 ; was in the Lothrop massacre, and is the only man known to have escaped unhurt. The second day after, he enlisted un- der the gallant Capt. Samuel Moseley, and served with him until the close of the war. He remained a few years in the vicinity of Boston, working at the trade of a carpenter. Here he married Dorothy, daughter of John Alexander, a Scotsman, but returned at the Permanent Settlement. In 1704, himself, his wife and five children were captured and taken to Canada. Three of the younger children never came back. He lived on No. 35, and died in 1724.
Stockwell, Quintin, from Dedham, 1672, settled on No. 31- now the Orthodox parsonage-had wife, Abigail, and at least two children, before 1677. Like Sergeant Plympton, suppos- ing hostilities had ceased, he came with him to rebuild in 1677, and shared his captivity, but not his horrible fate. He returned from Canada and wrote an interesting account of his experience, known as "Stockwell's Narrative."
Sutlicffc, Nathaniel, from Medfield, bought in 1672, lot No. 43 at the north end-the Asa Stebbins lot-and doubtless settled there. He married in 1665, Hannah, daughter of Old Sergeant Plympton ; was killed with Capt. Turner, May 19,
48
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
1676, leaving a widow and three children, who settled in Durham, Connecticut.
Tuffts, James, son of Peter of Charlestown, lived on the lot drawn by Mrs. Bunker, No. 37-now [1886] held by Mrs. Catha- rine E. B. Allen-and the site of Mrs. Hannah Beaman's schoolhouse in 1695 ; was killed with Lothrop. If he had a family, nothing is known of it.
Weld, Daniel, came from Medfield, 1672 or 3, where he was the first church recorder; married in 1664, Mary, daughter of Robert Hinsdell, and had five children. He was called " Mr.," and may have been a Ruling Elder before the advent of Mr. Mather. He lived on lot No. 23-now owned by Elisha Wells.
Weller, Richard, successively of Windsor, Farmington, Northampton, and of Pocumtuck in 1673. He married in 1640, Anna Wilson, and in 1662, Elizabeth Curtis. Of his six grown up children, the youngest, Thomas, born in 1653, was killed with Lothrop. He returned to Deerfield on the Per- manent Settlement, where he died about 1690.
Weller, John, son of Richard, born in 1645. He married in 1670, Mary, daughter of Alexander Alvord, of North- ampton. They had three children in 1675. He returned at the resettlement, and about 1686 the family removed to Connecticut.
Williams, Zebediah, sold out his land in Northampton, in 1674. He was here in 1675, and was one of the teamsters killed with Lothrop. His widow, Mary, daughter of Wm. Miller, married Godfrey Nims.
CHAPTER IV.
THE POCUMTUCK INDIANS.
Midway between the plantations of Pilgrim and Puritan on the seacoast, and the Dutch settlements on the upper Hudson, lay a region scarcely mentioned by the early writers of New England history, in which lived a people of whom the information they give is still more scanty. It is only here and there, as one pores over the musty records of the period, that a glimpse of this territory, or its occupants, ap- pears through the primeval haze. Yet, on concentrating these feeble gleams on the speculum of patient scrutiny, at length there stands out in bold relief a powerful confedera- tion of savages, occupying or dominating the great valley of the Connecticut river and its tributaries, from Brattleboro to Hartford.
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