USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, vol 2 > Part 23
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The freight boats on the Connecticut were of a class of shipping now extinct. They were in general terms called "Fall boats." They were of two classes, "Oak boats" and " Pine boats." The latter, of about twenty-five tons burden, were built high up the valley about Wells river or White river. These took the potash, shingles, etc., of those regions through to Hartford, where they were often sold and replaced by new ones, built during the winter. These boats had no floor before the mast and no cabin, the crews boarding along shore. The oak boats, on the other hand, were provided with a cabin, and the crew, consisting of a captain, cook and three bowmen, lived on board. These boats were about seventy- five feet long, fourteen or fifteen wide at the mast, twelve or thirteen at the bow, eight or ten at the stern, with a capacity of from thirty-five to forty tons. They were rigged with a mast about twenty-five feet high, which stood about twenty- five feet from the bow, with shifting shroud and forestays, a topmast to be run up at pleasure, square main-sail thirty by eighteen feet, and top-sail twenty-four by twelve. They had no keel, and the pine boats neither keel nor rudder. They were built of two-inch white oak plank spiked to stout white oak knees and ribs. From the mast the bottom rose gradual- ly to the bow ; from mast to cabin it was level, with a rise to the stern. In the pine boats and sometimes in the oak boats, the space before the mast was open, and the centre used for heavy freight not injured by the weather. The sides were reserved for the operations of the bowman in rowing and poling. There were two pair of row-locks. Oars were used to aid the current in getting the craft down, but were of small use in coming back. Unless the south wind blew, nothing availed but the "white ash breeze," i. c., the setting poles,
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THE WHITE ASH BREEZE.
with which the crew pushed the boat up by main force. The poles were of white ash, some fifteen or twenty feet long, with socket and spike at the end. A man at the bow dropped his pole until it struck bottom, then with the upper end against his shoulder and his face turned aft he walked as far as the mast, his feet bracing against the bare ribs, or in the oak boats against cleats fastened to the floor, as step by step he forced the boat up-stream. Another followed him, and the same thing was being done on the other side, so in this sort of a tread-mill the men tugged with all their might and the boat went slowly on its way. On the rapids or swift water an extra force was taken on, or as it became necessary in some places, an ox team on the shore was harnessed into the work by means of a long rope. At other places the same re- sult was accomplished by "tracking," that is, several men took the place of oxen. Abaft the mast the sides of the boat were raised as high as the mast board, making a room as wide as the boat, about thirty-three feet long and seven feet high. This was called the tent and being covered by an awning was snug and dry. Here the freight was se- curely stowed. At the rear end of this was the cabin with its four bunks which turned up on hinges, and cook stove. Five feet of the stern were reserved for the steersman and his tiller. The cabin was lighted by two small square win- dows and bore on one side the name of the boat. It may be Dispatch, Flying Fish, Clinton, Vermont, Downer, Franklin. Free Trade, Cheapside, or, this poser for the boys along shore, VOYGERMCINDOOSFALLSNEWHAMPSHIRE. The boats were about three feet deep and when loaded, the wale was near the water's edge. So loaded the crew pushed it up- stream a mile and a half an hour, but with a spanking breeze the boat would sometimes make a good five miles with a bone in its mouth. Then the heart of the bowman rejoiced within him, and the river bank echoed his songs of cheer, while the tired husbandman stood still and listened as the boat and the voice passed by. At night the anchor was thrown out and the crew slept securely, while the boat swayed lazily in the stream, the stout cable holding fast the ground their persist- ent toil had won.
As early as 1795 Justin and Elias Lyman were running a line of boats from Hartford to Cheapside.
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BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY -- CHEAPSIDE.
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Transporting freight up and down the Connecticut was profitable, and in time there grew up a rivalry between the capitalists of New Haven and Hartford into whose lap the golden stream should fall. Hartford was a natural head of sloop navigation and terminus of the down-river traffic. About 1824 New Haven projected a canal which was to divert this trade to her warehouses. The Farmington canal was chartered by Connecticut to run from New Haven to the state line, at Southwick, and in 1825, by Massachusetts on through Westfield to Northampton, under the name of the Hampden and Hampshire canal. In 1827 a continuation to the Vermont line was obtained, and a charter from Vermont carried the New Haven party up to Wells river. Northampton people were full of enthusiasm. Apr. 3, 1826, Gen. Thomas Shepard makes a rose-colored report and says it can be continued on a single level from Northampton to the Deerfield river at Cheapside, where it would intersect the proposed canal from Boston to Troy. The route followed substantially the route of the present Canal railroad. From Greenfield to Brattleboro was to be another level. At Guilford, Vt., Shepard said the feeder would be Deerfield river. He did not tell how the water was to be got over Hoosac mountain. Agents were busy, conventions were held and gilded promises were abun- dant. This was an era of canals. The great Erie canal was opened Nov. 4, 1825. The success of the New Haven project meant death to Hartford, and none knew it better than her business men. They had not been napping meanwhile; a counter move had been duly made. The "Connecticut River Navigation Company" had been formed, and charters obtained from the four states on the river. This company proposed to improve the navigation of the Connecticut river by mak- ing canals at impassable places, to build dams at swift water points for slack water navigation, to cut down the bars where necessary and so reach Barnet at the mouth of the Passump- sic, two hundred and twenty miles above Hartford. Feb. 16, 1825, a convention of two hundred delegates from interested towns met at Windsor, Vt., for a two days' session. A peti- tion was sent to Congress asking aid in the improvement of navigation on the Connecticut, and an engineer from the war department was sent to Barnet to survey the river towards Canada and Lake Memphremagog, and down the Connecticut.
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THE BARNET.
He could not do it all, but during the summer a careful sur- vey of the river from Hartford to Barnet was made by Holmes Hutchinson, who had been employed on the Erie canal. Dec. 20, he inade a detailed report with plan and estimates.
Early in 1826 Alfred Smith of Hartford, president of the River company, came up to Greenfield to interest the citizens in the project. One result was a convention where Smith, Judge Leavitt and Daniel Wells made addresses in favor of it and Gen. Shepard, leader of the canal party, in opposition. The Canal party held a convention at Greenfield, May 10. A Greenfield wit, perhaps William Wilson, reports the Green- field convention in the "Chronicles of New England, chap.
999." The canal finally reached Westfield. The "Gen. Sheldon," the first boat on its basin, was launched there No- vember, 1829. The canal was finally finished from New Ha- ven to Northampton, but no farther.
Steamboats. The war between the river men and the canal- ites was warm and neither went into winter quarters. Each party felt sure it could best serve the public interests. May 17, 1827, Gov. Clinton of New York, the great mogul in canal matters, was in Greenfield with Judge Hillhouse, and went on an exploring expedition up the Connecticut in the interest of the canal party. The age of steam had just begun and both sides proposed to use this new power in towing freight boats. In 1826 the river men built a steamboat at New York. It was named the Barnet, from the town at the upper end of their operations. It was seventy-five feet long, fourteen and a half wide, with wall sides and flat bottom, and in working condition drew twenty-two inches of water. It was a red-let- ter day at Cheapside, Dec. 2, 1826, when the Barnet appeared on her waters with flying colors and booming cannon. The old Pocumtuck gun from the south shore welcomed the new- comer with fifteen thunderous salutes, and the crowd on the bridge and banks rent the air with cheers. The Barnet had a barge in tow loaded with passengers who sent back cheer for cheer, while the Barnet responded with twenty-six guns as she steamed slowly up and under the bridge to her moor- ings at the old landing. It was a glad day for the river party. A rumor had reached here that the Barnet could not stem the current, and a Deerfield poet celebrated this triumph in sixty-three stanzas. All but sixty are here given :---
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BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
"I heard a fellow say, quoth Dick, This steamboat couldn't get up; The Hartford folks were all afraid Canal boats would be set up.
So off they went and built this thing, To make Northampton quiver; They say Tom Sh-p-d's fired mad Because we help the River.
A few months since they came up here On purpose for to balk us, And fee'd the Judge and D-n-1 W-Ils, To spout at Greenfield caucus."
The rhymster was probably Capt. Elijah Williams of Deer- field. That town had all along "helped the river," while quite a minority in Greenfield were for the canal. The Bar- net was a stern wheeler. She made a winter berth in Mon- tagne canal. In the spring she worked her way up to Barnet, and came back safely to Hartford. Nov. 2, 1827, her boiler burst while off Milford on a trip from New York to Hartford, and I hear nothing more of this plucky pioneer. The next steamboat which reached the Deerfield river was the Ver- mont. Aug. 3, 1829, she looked into its month, but turned back and went up the canal. The next day she reached Brattleboro, and Aug. 5, Bellows Falls, and came back to Brattleboro the 6th. .
While the rivals were actively campaigning in the Con- nectient valley, measures were being taken to construct a canal from Boston to Troy. Feb. 25, 1825, the Massachusetts Legislature appointed Nathan Willis, Elihn Hoyt and H. A. S. Dearborn commissioners to ascertain the practicability of this measure. They employed Loami Baldwin, who reported Jan. 9, 1826, a survey with plans and estimates from Boston to the Connecticut, at the month of Millers river. Another survey carried the route down through the Montague canal across the river to Sheldons rocks, thence on the south side of Deerfield river through Cheapside, 11p Plain swamp brook, east of the Old Street, across South meadows to Stillwater. From here it followed the river up to the present Hoosae tunnel. There the mountain was to be cut through at a cost of $920,832, and Troy reached via the Hoosick river. The survey of this part was made by Epaphras Hoyt. He makes his report with plan Sept. 20, 1825. Jan., 1826, the canal commissioners report to the Legislature that a canal is prac- ticable, and recommend its being built at publie expense, and
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RIVER TRAFFIC -- THE ARIEL COOLEY.
a canal fund be raised from " taxes on banks, duties on auc- tion sales, proceeds of the sales of public lands, a State lot- tery, canal tolls," and the interest of a claim on the national government for military service.
The steamboat once introduced on the river, old-fashioned boating disappeared, but the old boats were retained. They were towed by the steamboats in fleets of from three to six and the time much shortened. Twenty-four round trips from Cheapside to Hartford was the ritle for the season of about eight months. The Ariel Cooley was early upon the river and was the only steamboat towing boats above the Hadley Falls. She was on duty in 1847, when she was taken to Southern waters. The statements concerning her fate, on page 91 of the History of Connecticut Valley, are erroneous. Capt. L. L. Luey, Charles Henry and Caleb White of Green- field, all old rivermen, whose statements must be considered entirely reliable, agree that the boat which was blown up near Mt. Tom, killing the captain, engineer, and Machinist Long. who built the engine, was not the Ariel Cooley, but the Greenfield, on its trial trip with a new-fangled boiler, and that she was the only boat blown up in these waters.
The Abercrombies came to Cheapside about 1830, where they did a large mercantile business. They bought in 1831 the tavern and the Houghton store. Aug. 25, 1834, they bought for $140 a boat called "Voyger," and changed her name to " Free Trade." Repairs, mast, rigging, etc., brought the cost to $184. Capt. Stebbins, with a crew of three men, left for Hartford, Oct. 11. The cost of first round trip was $92.06. The principal items of expense were wages of crew, $30.69 ; towing, $9: tolls through canals at Hadley and En- field, $26.05. Three trips were made that season with a profit of $128.90. Up freight was $4.50 to $5 a ton ; down, about half as much. They brought up English and West In- dia goods, flour from Albany, N. E. rum from Boston, cotton from the South. The down freight was rough and manu- factured lumber, farmers' produce, potash and miscellanies. Thompson of Colrain sent ash plank to Boston and New York. Richard Dickinson sends Deerfield brooms, 14, 120 in one lot; Ware of Deerfield, Sheldon of Leyden, Wilson of Colrain, ship cider brandy : Pierce of Greenfield, fire frames; King & Co., chairs ; others, boxes of hats; Fuller of Deerfield
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BELLS CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
sends cranberries; Philo Temple, poles, whether hoop, hop or setting does not appear; A. & L. C. Rice send scythe snaths, 4,450 in one invoice. We find beech wood and axes for Philadelphia, broom handles from Halifax, rakestales for Providence, one shipment being 5,063 from Perkins, who also sends to the same market forkstales, scythe sticks, spokes, felloes, shafts; from Whitingham came leather and lime. Quite an item was the empty casks and boxes sentfor a market. Large quantities of firewood were shipped to Hartford, where it was delivered to the steamboats for their own consumption.
Aug. 1, 1839, the Abercrombies bought another boat, the "Donner," for $225. Repairs, rigging, etc., brought the cost up to $309. The Donner made four trips this season, netting the owners $297.89.
Allen & Root of Greenfield built a store near the Aber- crombie tavern, about 1835. This firm owned the Greenfield. and ran a line of boats on the river, as did also Stockbridge & Wells, and Stockbridge, Culver & Co. In 1837 these com- panies all united under the title of Stockbridge, Allen, Root & Co., which continued the business until the advent of the Connecticut Railroad Co., to which the whole concern was sold out. "Boating on the Pocumtuck river " was then over. and the glory of Cheapside departed forever.
Bridges and Turnpikes. The road from Deerfield to Green- field ran across North Meadows to a ferry at the north end of Pine Hill and so north through Cheapside, by Fort Hill, the Sequestered Land and the east bank of Green river. This route was often obstructed by floods, and various plans were early suggested for a better one.
1722. The town chose a committee to consult with Joseph Parsons about building a bridge. No report on the matter is found, but in 1727, the town voted to build a bridge at the first turn of the river below the crossing.
1751. The town chose a committee to inquire whether a bridge can be built and to get estimates of cost. Nothing inore is heard of this movement.
1758. Deerfield was ordered by authority to keep a ferry at the old crossing.
1785. A committee was chosen by the town to petition the Legislature for the grant of a lottery to raise money to build a bridge. The petitioners have leave to withdraw.
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BRIDGE BUILDING.
1786. Jonathan Hoyt and others were granted leave to build a bridge "at a place called Rocky Mountain," just at the gorge below the present bridge.
1787. This year a road was laid out on the east side of North Meadows from the Old Street to Cheapside, and a fer- ry established just above where the bridge now stands. Mo- ses Chandler, who had been ferryman at the old place, came along with the ferry and he remained to be toll-gatherer when the bridge was built. A road was also laid out on both sides of the river, thirty-two rods down the banks from the ferry to a ford way. These roads and the approach to the ferry were on land of John Williams, who offered to give the same in consideration of being allowed a perpetual privilege of running the ferry. Jonathan Hoyt was representative this year and he was instructed by the town to oppose the petition of Mr. Williams.
1791. An attempt was made by a Deerfield party to inter- est that and the adjoining towns to unite in a petition for a lottery to build a bridge at Cheapside. No action is found in this direction.
1792. A bill passed the House granting a lottery to Deer- field for the purpose of raising £600 to build a bridge at Cheapside. David Smead and David Saxton were made man- agers. I doubt if it became a law. I have the original bill, but the endorsement of the Senate action thereon is illegible.
1796. In March a line of stages from Hartford to Hanover, N. H., was established on the west side of the river passing the ferry at Cheapside. A bridge had been built shortly be- fore at the mouth of Millers river, on the route of the east side line. This year Jonathan Hoyt and David Smead peti- tioned the General Court for a charter to build a bridge at the Cheapside ferry. May 9th the town chose a committee to oppose the petition. The same session John Williams and others put in a petition for a charter to build a bridge at Rocky mountain. The Senate appointed, June 15, 1796, Jon- athan Hunt of Hinsdale, Vt., (now Vernon) Daniel Bigelow of Petersham and John Black of Barre, a committee to hear both parties and report at the next session " which place was the most eligible for a bridge and for the accommodation of travel." Elaborate plans of bridges at each location are ex- tant. At the ferry the distance between the abutments was
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BELLS CHARITIES NEGRO SLAAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
256 feet and total length 507 feet ; necessary mason work, 94,500 feet. At Rocky mountain ; between abutments was 157 feet: total length, 230 feet; masonry 47,450 fect. Neither plan shows any piers in the water. Wooden trestles were doubtless to be used by both plans. Hunt reports to the next session, "That the place called Rocky Mountain is the most sure and eligible for erecting a bridge and for the accommo- dation of travelers." But in Cheapside affairs, Legislative reports do not always carry. It was so in this case. June 22, 1797, the Hoyt party got a charter to build a bridge at the ferry place, the present location.
1797. John Sinclair of Deerfield opened a ferry "at the inouth of Deerfield river, where the contemplated turnpike will probably be established." In 1792 a charter was granted to build a bridge across the Connecticut at this point, and a second in 1795. Both failed, but the time was nearly ripe for such an enterprise. A great tide of emigration was surg- ing up the valley of the Connecticut. There was a demand for better facilities for travel and transportation. Canals and turnpikes were under way, and Cheapside was becoming a prominent center of business. The second Massachusetts turnpike was chartered March 8, 1797, to run from Charle- mont over Hoosac mountain. This was to attract Western trade down the valley of the Deerfield river to Cheapside. The fourth turnpike, connecting with the second, was organ- ized March 1, 1799.
1798. Hoyt and others built a bridge at Cheapside on the site of the present bridge at a cost of $5000. It was supported by timber trestles, with possibly a pier, where the south pier now stands, and in 1805 was in a tumble-down condition and the contractors, Messrs. Fellows & Atherton, were obliged to pay the proprietors $1364 damages. After considerable ex- pense in repairs the bridge was given up and a new one with masonry superstructure was built in 1806 at a cost of $8000.
1799. The fifth Massachusetts turnpike from Boston was laid out, and in 1801 was in operation westward through Cheapside.
1800. July 6, a county road was laid from Cheapside to the proposed Montague bridge. Dec. 27 a bridge was raised over Green river, I suppose on the site of the present lower bridge, and a road laid out across Petty's Plain.
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EXPIRATION OF CHARTER.
1 802. Montague bridge opened Nov. 26, at II o'clock A.
M. A turnpike was chartered this year from Greenfield to Charlemont, being a connecting link between the second and fourth on one hand and the fifth on the other.
1804. In December a bridge across the Connecticut at Brattleboro was opened A lottery was granted this year for a bridge at Hatfield.
1812. Oct. 13, Sunderland bridge "opened for carriages." It was 1000 feet long, twenty-nine wide and forty-five high from low water to top of sill. It was supported by eight double trestles and four single ones near the shores. This was destroyed by a flood, Feb. 12, 1824.
1823. February 5, William Russell and others advertised for proposals to build a bridge at the point of Rocky moun- tain, and a second time, Feb. 14. The subscribers to the new bridge held a meeting at Nims's tavern, in Deerfield, Apr. 24. February 14, a meeting of the proprietors of the old bridge was called for the 24th " to take into consideration the expe- diency of suspending the building of said bridge." Nothing is found to indicate the cause or end of the trouble ; the old bridge was continued and the new one not built.
Tolls : Stages on wheels, 20 cents; on runners, 12; four horse wagons, 17 ; teams (cart and oxen) 17; curricle, 20; hack, 20; chaise, 8; horse and wagon, 6; cutter, 6; footmen and oxen, 2 ; sheep, I ; man horseback, 4.
The charter to the Cheapside Bridge Corporation ran for seventy years. At its expiration a good, substantial bridge was to be left free to the town. People had become tired of paying toll, and looked forward to the time when this annoy- ing tax on travel should be removed. The question was, when did the seventy years expire? But who knew when the bridge was opened ? The proprietors had no desire to give up a good thing sooner than obliged, and would give no sign. The town took the matter up, and Nov. 5, 1867, Charles Wil- liams, Elisha Wells and George Sheldon were made a com- mittec " to obtain Legislative action," or " take such action in the matter as in their judgment the best interests of the town require." The Antiquary was put on the hunt for evidence as to when toll was first taken. After long search a file of the Greenfield Gazette, covering that period, was found, but in this not a single word was said respecting the building or
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BELLS-CHARITIES-NEGRO SLAVERY-CHEAPSIDE.
opening of the first toll bridge of all this section of country. There was news of the wars and political movements in Eu- rope, and of debates in Congress, but not a hint of this new enterprise.
Pesistent mousing, however, brought to light a Day Book of Dr. William S. Williams, in which were minute and spe- cific charges for professional services, visits, pills, plasters, phlebotomy, &c., each had a separate charge, and in case of a patient at Cheapside ferriage was added. Three days later this item was changed to toll, and toll it continued. This Day Book was taken by the Antiquary before the Legislative committee of Boston and on its evidence alone, the day was determined on which the bridge became frec.
A strange thing happened while this committee was in session, which came near to taking the question beyond leg- islative supervision. The channel of the river below the bridge became the bed of a furious torrent running up-stream, carrying against the bridge huge masses of ice, logs, etc., which shattered the covering boards, broke off posts, and threatened instant destruction to the structure. An ice gorge had dammed up the Connecticut, and its waters, rising about thirty feet, rushed up the Deerfield until the basin of the North Meadows was filled.
Business. Cheapside being the head of river navigation, became an active center of business.
September 6, 1795, Joseph Swan appears as the pioneer trad- er, advertising three hundred bushels of salt to sell or "ex- change for flax seed on terms pleasing to the farmers." Sept. 15, William Wait, cooper, has removed to Cheapside, and in company with Cephas Hoyt, also has salt for sale.
1796. September 27, a new store appears at Deerfield, where Job and Asa Whitney will sell salt, etc., and Nov. 29, another by Calvin Burt & Co., who are in special want of a hundred bushels of elover seed. A building boom had set in and William Russell-" Uncle Bill"-wants "two joiners" and Asher Benjamin of Greenfield, the architect, wants " sev- en or eight journeymen carpenters" at once.
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