USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Granville > History of Granville, Massachusetts > Part 10
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In the earlier days when cattle, sheep and horses were allowed to graze in the highways and on the Green, one of the important offices in the Town was that of Field Driver. So much so that gen- erally there were four or more elected at the annual town meeting each year, and sometimes the number chosen was as high as eight or even ten. Their duties were to drive such domestic animals as had strayed from the highway or the land of their owners, back into some place of detention and notify the owners to come and get their cattle and pay for the damage done and also the charge of the Field Driver. Ordinarily every Town had a Town Pound where all strays were kept till called for by their owners, but for some reason Granville never had a Pound. Perhaps it was because the residents could not agree as to where it should be located. In the old days it was a long distance from the west part of the Town to the east part, so perhaps it was merely a matter of convenience. The Town never had a pound keeper, for it had no pound, but the situation was very easily handled. It was usually voted that each Field Driver use his own farm yard as a pound and be his own pound-keeper.
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GRANVILLE FROM 1810
This method seems to have been more sensible than to have one central pound.
When cattle were allowed to run at large it was customary for each farmer to have an individual ear mark, by which his cattle could be identified. A description of all such marks was required to be registered in the Town Clerk's office. Many such appear in the early records. Here are a few entries :
Justin Cooley's mark is a half crop the under side the left ear and a slit the upper side the right.
William Gavit's mark is a double fork in the left ear and a single fork in the right.
Caleb Burt's mark is a crop of the right ear and a hole threw the left.
Sharon Burbank's mark is a V the under side the right ear.
Dan Mather's mark is a sloping crop of the upper and under side of the left ear, being the same that was Josiah Whitney's.
Jairus Handy's mark is two half pennys the upper side of the right ear. Being the same that was Richª Brown's. Put to Rachel Coe.
John Manchester's mark is three half pennys the under side the left ear.
David Bates' mark is a slit in the end of the left ear.
Samuel Stradvian Junr's mark is a crop off the end of the right ear and swallows tail the under side the same.
Levi Spelman's mark is a square crop of the end of the right ear and a half crop the under side of the left ear.
Seth Coe's mark is a swallows tail in the end of the left ear.
Linus Bates' mark is a square half penny the under side of each ear.
John Hunt's mark is a slope the under side the left ear & upper side the right.
Amos Baldwin's mark is a hollow crop in the end of the left ear and a half penny the under side the right.
Formerly many cattle were kept in Granville but although the number of domestic animals kept in Town decreased in later years, the Field Drivers were scrupulously elected every year, because they always had been chosen each year. But after many years of practically no duties to perform, some progressive individual, per- haps some recently made female voter, suggested in 1915, that there was no need for such useless officials. Strangely enough, the idea was adopted, and since that time we have had no more Field
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
Drivers. Thus an old custom which had become a relic of the past was discarded.
In that same year, 1915, another event occurred which was of more immediate importance. The Town Hall was condemned as unsafe by the State Building Inspector. The Town was now face to face with a variation of the old school house dilemma. Either exten- sive repairs, akin to rebuilding, or build anew. Furthermore, where could town meetings be held during the period of making repairs on the old building, or building a new one? The meeting houses at Granville Center and West Granville, in both of which town meet- ings had many times been held in the past, were in excellent condition and both Parishes were loath to allow them to be used for that purpose now. The only building in Town which was at all suitable for the emergency was the Universalist meeting house in Granville village. This building had not been used by its owners for many years, and it was used only infrequently by the Methodist church, which soon ceased altogether to use it. Under the stress of these circumstances, the Town was greatly relieved by the generosity of the Universalist church coming to the rescue with an offer of the use of its meeting house until such time as the Town had proper accommodation for Town meetings. The offer was gratefully accepted and the annual meeting was held in that meeting house on February 7, 1916, at which time a committee was chosen to examine the situation and report as to whether it would be better to rebuild the old town hall or build a new one.
That the Town sometime would be faced with the necessity for a new town hall had been realized by the late Milton B. Whitney, Esq., of Westfield. Mr. Whitney was a native of Granville and had given generously toward the construction and endowment of the Library building, and being desirous of still further assisting his native Town, had made provision in his will for a fund of $5000.00, the income of which should go to his sister, the late Mrs. James W. Johnson, during her life, and upon her death the fund should go to the Town for, or toward, a new town hall.
The fact of Mr. Whitney's gift doubtless had its weight with the above named committee, for after due consideration, it reported in favor of a new building.
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GRANVILLE FROM 1810
Then began the usual argument, when a new public building has been decided upon, as to where it should be located. Petty rivalries flared up. Town meetings were held, for Granville could not even build a school house, not to mention a town hall, without several town meetings. At length Mrs. Lucy M. Brown, widow of the late Ralph S. Brown, offered to give the Town a site with sufficient land, if the Town would build the new building upon it. The proposed site was on the south side of the main road to West Granville, immediately west of Mrs. Brown's homestead at the Center. At a special meeting November 29, 1919, it was voted to accept Mrs. Brown's offer. So at last a site was decided upon. But the erection of a public building in most small towns is not a speedy perform- ance and it was not until some months later that a building com- mittee was selected. This was done at a special meeting July 10, 1920, when the following were chosen : Roswell O. Rowley, Howard B. Dickinson, Joseph Welch, Michael Arnold, Elliott F. Barnard, Pearl Phelon, Porter T. Frisbie, Orville R. Noble and Fred N. Gibbons, a group of representative citizens. Plans were agreed upon and it was expected that the cost would be kept within the sum of $20,000.00. After a time funds were raised, chiefly by private sub- scription, wherein Mrs. Brown was very active. Perhaps she remem- bered the battle over the post office. A deed of the site was secured from her, which bears date September 24, 1921, and the next year construction was begun. Everything was moving smoothly, even if slowly, and at a special meeting November 7, 1922, it was voted to sell the old Town Hall and the lot on which it stood. The sale was ultimately made August 11, 1924, to Dr. Holland N. Stevenson.
However, it was not to be that this enterprise should go through to completion without striking a snag. First there arose the question as to whether the deed to the site was sufficient. So in 1924 another, and supposedly better, deed was obtained from Mrs. Brown. By this time all the available funds had been used and the building was far from finished. In this condition work was stopped and there the building stood while more money was raised for its completion. After two years of arduous labor, part of the money necessary to finish the building was raised, and it seemed as though the balance
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
could not be found until Merle D. Graves, Esq., and his wife, the former Clara Stevenson, came to the rescue in 1926 and provided the remainder of the amount needed. So the work on the unfinished structure was commenced and the task was finished the next year. The building was dedicated September 3, 1927, nearly twelve years after its predecessor had been condemned, and at a cost of over $10,000.00 more than was at first expected. But it was worth wait- ing for. It is well adapted for all the present needs of the Town as a Town Hall and Community Center.
Even then, however, the title to the site was not satisfactory, so a third deed from Mrs. Brown was obtained. This one is dated July 20, 1927, and it conveys a plot of land 152.4 feet wide in front and about 200 feet deep, reserving a right of way to Mrs. Brown ten feet wide along the west side of the lot to her land on the south.
At a special Town meeting in May, 1925, it was voted to place on the lawn a boulder bearing a bronze tablet upon which is inscribed the names of Granville men who went to World War I. It is to be hoped that a similar recognition may be made of the services of those who went from Granville to other wars.
The late John M. Stevenson, of Pittsfield and Granville, was an enterprising summer resident, who was always forward looking and up to date. He felt that in a town where the supply of drinking water was not scarce, there ought to be some way of supplying its people from some adequate system, instead of every family being forced to have its own well, or other more or less inconvenient supply. He tried to get the villages of Granville and Granville Center interested in a water system, with but indifferent success. The Center was mildly interested, but Granville village was not. How- ever, he had the courage of his convictions and purchased a small watershed situated between Regan Road and North Lane, put in a reservoir and piped the water to his own house at the Center, as well as to a few other houses. He organized a small corporation, the Granville Water Company, to operate the system, so that Gran- ville, as well as other larger places, has its own water works. After the death of Mr. Stevenson, certain shares of the capital stock of the Water Company came to his daughter, Mrs. Merle D. Graves. Later she offered them to the Town upon certain terms, and at the
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GRANVILLE FROM 1810
annual meeting of the Town on February 14, 1921, it was voted to accept the shares so offered by Mrs. Graves.
In addition to its water supply for Granville Center, the town is an important factor concerning the water supply of neighboring cities. The cities of Westfield and Springfield have acquired almost all the land in the north and northeast part of the town as water- sheds for their reservoirs.
Early in the 1890's the City of Westfield began to consider what could be done to increase its water supply, and the result was that it voted on November 24, 1894, to ask the General Court for authority to acquire the watershed drained by Tillotson Brook. In due time the desired authority was granted and Westfield com- menced its huge undertaking. The system was to consist of three reservoirs. The first one constructed was the one known as Winchell Reservoir on the lower reaches of Tillotson Brook. This one was built in the years 1898 and 1899, and was in use in the latter part of the latter year. Then a smaller reservoir was built on Japhet Brook, a small tributary of Tillotson Brook.
These two reservoirs were but a beginning, and as funds were available, more farms were acquired, because a large and adequate Granville Reservoir was the goal. Active construction work on the Granville Reservoir was not commenced until 1914, and then moved along very slowly, due to the ups and downs of politics and the scarcity of funds available for that purpose. In 1926, however, the preliminary work was pushed in earnest. The dam was begun in January, 1928, and was finished in December of that year. The Reservoir was then allowed to fill. Water began to run over the spill-way April 15, 1930. This Reservoir covers the site of the first settlement in Granville, the homestead of Samuel Bancroft, as well as much other land. It is fed not only by Tillotson Brook, but also by Bancroft Brook, which comes down from the Wildcat region.
This entire watershed lies within the boundaries of the Town of Granville and is on both sides of the old Westfield Road. A con- siderable portion of it is being reforested, chiefly with pine. There are about 4000 acres in this watershed and of that amount West- field has acquired 3487 acres.
Whether the City of Springfield took a leaf out of the book of
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
the City of Westfield, or whether it made its investigations inde- pendently, is now quite immaterial, because in either event the result was the same. It looked to Granville for water. In 1905 it decided to ask the General Court for authority to acquire the Little River watershed to augment its then existing system. The desired permis- sion was duly granted, and the acquisition of land was begun in 1906. The plan was to have two reservoirs in the system, one fed by Borden Brook, a tributary of Little River in the northwest corner of the town, and a very much larger reservoir at Cobble Mountain. The watershed of this system embraces all the land in Granville northerly and northwesterly of the Westfield watershed. The area drained by Borden Brook is almost all within the Town of Granville, but the area supplying the Cobble Mountain Reservoir is only partly in Granville.
The area of the Springfield watershed was less thickly settled than the Westfield watershed, but the result was the same. Many farms have been acquired and the buildings demolished, causing the region to go back to wilderness. In the Borden Brook Reservoir the gates were closed in the latter part of 1909, and water from this reservoir was ready for use January 1, 1910. Construction of the Cobble Mountain Reservoir was begun July 1, 1927, and the dam was finished and the water ready for use in 1932. Of its watershed in Granville, Springfield has acquired 25421/2 acres.
Approximately the northeasterly third of the town is now given over to supplying potable water for Westfield and Springfield, and where formerly there was a considerable population devoted to farming and pioneer milling, grist mills, saw mills, powder keg mills and Bates' tannery, now forest trees are encouraged to grow. Farm houses in this area are few and far between. Much reforestation has been done.
And this is not all. For several years the City of Hartford, Con- necticut, has been acquiring land in the southern and western part of the town to protect its Barkhamsted Reservoir, and the end is not yet. Land drained by Hubbard River and its tributaries, is needed by Hartford, and as opportunity offers, it is being taken over. Here, as in the northeast part of the town, groups of farm
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GRANVILLE FROM 1810
buildings are razed and reforestation is begun. According to the latest Valuation List, Hartford has acquired title to 1506 acres.
So, Granville may well be considered an important bit of Hamp- den County in that it is the source of such a vast amount of drink- able water.
In 1926 another innovation came to pass. Electric current was brought to the Town from Southwick, and in addition to lighting private houses, some of the streets were also lighted. The new lights were liked so much that the Town purchased its own plant which it maintained for a few years, but sold it in 1930, finding it more satisfactory to purchase its current.
In 1927 still another change came to pass. The terms of the Selectmen had always hitherto been for the current year only. This was thought by some to make for less competent service than might be achieved if their terms were longer, so it was voted that there- after the terms of service of these officers should be three years instead of one, and that one should be chosen every year. In that year (1927) the Selectmen were elected for three, two, and one years. However, this method was soon discarded, for in 1931, one Selectman was elected for two years, and in 1932 one was chosen for one year, and thereafter the Town was back on its ancient schedule : electing a full board every year. So ended another experiment.
For many years the Town had used at its elections a ballot box which was so made as to register the number of ballots dropped into it. Something, however, went wrong with the mechanical device as far back as 1900, but allowance was made for its peculiarity and it was used just the same although it would persist in failing to register a few ballots, anywhere from two to twenty-five each time it was used. It is interesting to note the childlike confidence in the contraption. It would be critically examined by the proper election officials, who would peer into its depths to see if any surreptitious ballot might be lurking inside, then in the presence of the moderator it would be securely locked so that no ballots could get in through some devious and unlawful way, and the key would be officially delivered to the constable who carefully kept possession of it until
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
the balloting was over, when he would officially come forward and ceremoniously unlock the device. The officials would take the read- ing of the meter showing the number of ballots cast and proceed to remove the ballots, feel around inside the box for any ballot that might be stuck somewhere within, and again peer in to see if any remained in hiding. Then the ballots were counted. The box never registered more than were cast, always less, but never by any fixed ratio. If sixty ballots were cast and found in the box, the registering device might show any number between fifty and sixty. It must have furnished entertainment for some and vexation for others. This sort of performance was repeated every year until 1927 when in despe- ration the Town voted to get a new ballot box, one that could be relied upon.
In 1931 the Town made its first appropriation, $300.00, for old age pensions.
So we see vast changes which have taken place since the days of small things two centuries ago. The changes in the business affairs of the Town are no more striking than the changes in the mode of living then and now. Only the Granville hills have remained change- less, although the mental processes of the people have changed but little. They have the same courage, industry, self reliance and integrity.
One way in which we may note the contrast between the pioneer days and the present is to examine the appropriations for carrying on the public business. In 1751, when there were less than seventy families, the expense of the public business was met by a tax of one penny on the pound on all settling land for the support of the church and an equal tax for mending the highways. Just how much this would amount to in the currency of today is uncertain, for this was old tenor money. The tax collector was paid £1 for his services in collecting that tax. There seems to have been no other public expense that year. In 1762 appeared the first item for schools. £20 was raised for that purpose in addition to the church and highway expenses. There were no written reports of the Treasurers of that period or of the sums appropriated by the District, but in 1835, one hundred years after the first settlement, and in 1854, which is one hundred years after the District of Granville was incorporated,
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GRANVILLE FROM £ 1810
and in 1935, two hundred years after the first settlement, we have complete figures on the point.
1835
For schools
$500.00
highways and bridges
1000.00
support of the poor
250.00
County tax
268.00
contingent
50.00
special for bridges
150.00
$2218.00
1854
For schools
$500.00
highways and bridges
1000.00
support of the poor
400.00
County tax
400.00
contingent
700.00
$3000.00
1935
Grouping the various appropriations under substantially the same headings as used above, we have :
For schools
$22350.00
highway, bridges, etc.
16370.87
support of the poor
3500.00
conducting the business
of the Town
7713.47
account of the Town's indebtedness
4225.00
County tax
2781.29
State tax
2700.00
miscellaneous
2715.40
$62356.03
In addition to the above the Town had for expenditure, grants of funds from the Commonwealth and Hampden County amounting to $18600.00 for highways; also sums amounting to $1070.00 transferred from previous appropriations; and $25000.00 bor- rowed money.
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
The total valuation of assessed property in Granville on Janu- ary 1, 1935, was $1,773,114.00. Indeed, the vision of James Cornish has come to pass.
In terms of population one may get a sort of bird's-eye view of the Town at different periods.
Families Population
Families Population
1735
1
2 1850
1305
1750
76
1860
1385
1765
682
1870
1293
1776
1126
1880
1205
1790
334
1979
1890
1061
1800
2309
1900
1050
1810
1504
1910
781
1820
1643
1920
655
1830
1649
1930
674
1840
1414
1940
668
It is interesting to note that in 1790 there were only three towns in Hampshire County having a larger population than Granville. They were West Springfield, 2367 ; Westfield, 2204; Conway, 2092. Then came Granville with 1979 and Springfield with 1574.
In 1790 there were 319 dwelling houses in Town, while in 1935 there are only 226.
What of the people whom the Granville hills have nurtured? How did they live? Whither have they gone? When horse-back or chaise was the swiftest method of transportation and all com- modities were made by hand, the factor of greatest importance was strong, productive soil. Wherever that was to be found, there grew up a commodity of self-supporting citizens. They were as happy in their day as we are in ours. They lived a simpler, less exacting life than we. Without doubt the first dwellings were log houses, but the equipment for a saw mill came with the very earliest settlers, though the site of this first saw mill cannot now be located. It was, of course, of the up-and-down type and was operated by the power furnished by the brook on which it was located. This first saw mill doubtless had all it could do to furnish timber, plank and boards for the needed new houses and other buildings, as well as for furni- ture and farm tools, such as sleds, carts, harrows, etc. Elihu Stow, Jr., came from Middletown, Connecticut, in 1780 and settled on
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GRANVILLE FROM 1810
the Blandford road, in what was later called the Stow District. Here he cleared the land and established a home. More or less of his original farm is now flowed by the water impounded by the Cobble Mountain Dam. Five years later his father, Elihu, Sr., followed the son to Granville and built a saw mill on the nearby stream, the first mill in that part of the Town. This old mill was standing and was in operating condition in 1894, when it was said to be the oldest saw mill in the Commonwealth.
Then there was the first grist mill. It was equally necessary to have a place where grain could be ground. The settlers raised their own corn, wheat and rye, and the meal and flour from these grains were used for food for families as well as for horses and cattle. Every little brook had its mill or mills.
Another artisan who arrived early was the blacksmith. We, in these days, can little understand the importance and value to the community, of the blacksmiths. Horses had to be shod, and oxen as well. These two items were, of course, the great part of the work of this vital industry, but there were hundreds of other things for which the smith was needed. Tires for all wagons had to be made and set; sleds to be made ; plows to be made; harrow teeth to be made and kept sharp; all kinds of iron repairing to be done. Cast iron was practically unknown. In order to show the variety of work done by a good blacksmith, and the prices he received, a few excerpts have been taken from the account book of John Phelps, who had a blacksmith shop in 1840-1841 at what was then Granville Cor- ners. The original words and terms are used, but not the original spelling. This account book is now in the possession of his grand- daughter, Miss Lillian Gaines.
hooping wagon wheels $1.00
making sneybills .75
fixing hammers
.30 laying whiffle trees
.17
making hooks and eyes
1.00 mending hay knife
.13
mending chains
.17
mending stove
.16
nosing a share .84
mending staple and ring
.83
plates for plow
.37 16 spikes
.16
mending sleigh
.13
2 pair hinges
.50
mending flat
.25
garden hoe
.17
laying pickaxe
.17
footing andirons .33
ironing cart neap
.75 making rake teeth
.25
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
shoes for sleigh
1.45
splicing crank 1.00
ironing bucket
.30
making bush hook 1.25
making wedges
.25
making bits for bridle .25
making pincers
.50
mending forks
.10
ironing cider mill and making fetters 3.50
pointing drag teeth
.88
sharpening drag teeth
.20
ring for bull
.50
making irons for silk machinery
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