USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Granville > History of Granville, Massachusetts > Part 5
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It is of interest to note that these Provincial and County taxes could be paid in certain marketable commodities, as good codfish, good iron, good winter wheat, good winter rye, good Indian corn, good barley, good barrel pork, good barrel beef, long whalebone, good bees wax, good tallow, good pease, good wool, good sole leather, etc. When taxes were paid in commodities, the value of the merchandise was estimated at the current rates for such goods, and then sold by the Province or County. If the proceeds were less or more than the tax, then such loss or gain fell upon or was credited to the taxpayer on the following year's tax bill.
At last Bedford was out of its swaddling clothes. It was recog- nized as a political unit of the Province. That was something. To be sure, it had no geographical limits, but it had been given authority to elect certain officers and levy and collect its share of the Provin- cial and County taxes (great privilege !) "in the same manner as towns." This tax to be provided for at that next meeting in August was for Bedford, £21, 7s.
Going again to the ancient record book, it appears that the next meeting of the Inhabitants of Bedford was held on August 5, 1751, "at the Meeting house in said Bedford, pursuant to a late act of the Gen1 Court." They were following to the letter the schedule laid down in the act. Daniel Brown was chosen moderator, Ephraim Munson, Clerk, and the oath was administered to him by the mod- erator. Phineas Pratt, Samuel Bancroft and Stephen Hickox were elected Assessors, and the oath was administered by the Clerk. Benjamin Meeker was made the Collector, and the oath was admin- istered to him by Timothy Dwight, Justice of the Peace. The minutes
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THE INHABITANTS
of this meeting are the first ones to be signed by the Clerk of the meeting.
Thus a little more regularity and formality had been introduced into the simple and crude methods of the pioneer settlers. The record of this meeting contains two items, aside from the elections, which are noteworthy. One of these items speaks of the meeting being held in the Meeting house. Previously all the meetings of the inhabitants had been held at the home of some individual. This indicates that the second meeting house, the one erected by Rev. Moses Tuttle and his congregation, was so far completed that it could be used for town meeting purposes. The other item is the headline above the record of the votes. It is this: "First Town Meeting in Bedford after the Town was Incorporated." Exactly what the Clerk, Mr. Munson, meant by that is reasonably clear considering the facts above set forth and the further fact that at an adjourned meeting of the inhabitants held December 16, 1751, the following vote was passed: "Voted that Phineas Pratt should take care of paying Mr. Worthington for service done by him for the Society by entering a Petition into the General Court and the said Pratt to draw the money out of the Treasury."
It is submitted that Mr. Munson, the Clerk, had in some way heard from someone who tried to rush the news in accordance with modern methods, that the bill incorporating Bedford into a Town had passed the House of Representatives, which was quite correct, but he had not heard that it had not passed the Council, and there- fore at once assumed that the town was actually incorporated, and he made his entry accordingly. It must be borne in mind that news travelled very slowly in those days, and also that erroneous infor- mation might pass along then as it sometimes does now. It was only about six weeks from the time when the House passed the incorporation bill to Mr. Munson's entry in his record book.
The record of the next meeting of the inhabitants, which was held December 2, 1751, contains two votes which are interesting. Phineas Pratt was the moderator. Most of the votes are more or less routine, except these : "Voted Ebenezer Seward, Samuel Ban- croft and Dan Robinson to take care and see that Mr. Tuttle have sufficient Fire wood," and "Voted Samuel Bancroft, Stephen Hickox
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
and Timothy Robinson a Committee to sell the Lands of those that are delinquent in paying their Rates." The former of these votes shows how minute details of the religious life of the times were matters of political concern. The latter vote shows that some of the good land owners of the day were unmindful of paying their taxes, wherein they were little different from others of later genera- tions. At best, the road of the Collector is thorny. For some reason not now apparent, the business before this meeting was not finished and so the meeting was adjourned to the 16th of December at the house of Lieut. Daniel Brown, at which time and place the remain- ing business was concluded.
What appears to be the first of the regular annual meetings was held in the meeting house on March 9, 1752. Politically everything seems to have been quiet. Phineas Pratt was Moderator, Ephraim Munson, Clerk, Samuel Church, Phineas Pratt and Stephen Hickox, Assessors, and John Spelman, Collector. But in spite of the apparent political calm, the inhabitants were still hampered about their public affairs through lack of authority from the Province. They were still obliged to get along in a sort of hand to mouth manner. So again early in 1752 they presented another petition to the Gen- eral Court asking for an extension of their power to raise taxes for current expenses. This petition was presented in May, 1752, and was very similar to that of November, 1749, and bears the original signatures of twenty-seven of the inhabitants, fifteen of whom had signed the similar petition of 1749. Finally the matter came before the House of Representatives and was passed by that body on December 4, 1752. The Council concurred on the next day and the Governor's consent is endorsed thereon. They were not satisfied, but it was the best they could do.
There were no further meetings of the inhabitants until March 12, 1753, when they met at the meeting house and elected the same officers as the year before, except that Ephraim Munson was the collector instead of John Spelman. The minutes of this meeting indicate the foregoing elections as being made "pursuant to a late act of the Great and General Court for (to) enable the new Plan- tations to pay Province and County Taxes," in other words, by virtue of the Act of June 21, 1751. The record seems to indicate
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THE INHABITANTS
that, having gotten the important business relating to the Province and County out of the way, they proceeded with another meeting on the same day and in the same place, which dealt with the affairs of the community. At this second meeting on March 12, 1753, Phineas Pratt was chosen Moderator, Ephraim Munson, Clerk, Sarg. Ebenezer Seward, Joseph Clark and Timothy Robinson, Assessors, Dan Robinson, Collector, Phineas Pratt, Treasurer, and John Spelman, Nathaniel Hubbard and Samuel Coe, a Committee to sell the land of delinquent tax payers. Then the meeting, for some unexplained reason, adjourned to the dwelling house of John Griswold where a dozen votes were passed relating to the ecclesi- astical affairs of the community and one about clearing and fencing the "burying yard." The minutes of this adjourned meeting contain the first intimation that trouble with the Rev. Mr. Tuttle was brewing.
At a meeting of the inhabitants held July 30, 1753, at the meet- ing house, more votes appear about the affairs of the church and Mr. Tuttle. Still another meeting was held on August 27, 1753, and a tax of "two farthings on each acre of Settling Land in said Bedford, for the support of the Gospel," was laid. This tax was to be paid into the Treasury "by the 27th day of October next."
Then on October 26, 1753, was held what turned out to be the last political meeting of the inhabitants of Bedford. Several votes were passed relating to the controversy with Mr. Tuttle and the affairs of the church. Then came two votes of far reaching effect. The first was as follows: Voted "that they would proceed to an Incorporation as soon as may be." The second was: Voted "that Mr. Phineas Pratt should act in the behalf of the Society in enter- ing a Petition into the General Court for an Incorporation of said Society, or any persons impowered by him."
The stage was now set for something to be done. Most people learn by their failures quite as thoroughly as by their successes, and Phineas Pratt was of that type. He had the example of one attempt to secure the incorporation of Bedford which had amounted to practically nothing. Now with him at the head of the present matter, it was a pretty safe forecast that he would accomplish what he set out to do or know the reason why. He had been exercising
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more and more influence upon the affairs in Bedford from the time of his arrival in May 1741. Influential in the affairs of the church and in the political progress of the community, he was now en- trusted with the task formerly given to Mr. Worthington, a task of infinite importance to the courageous little group of pioneers living on the Granville hills. He neither faltered nor failed. He did not "impower" anyone to act for him. He went himself and attended to the business in hand personally. He gave heed to the weaknesses of the Worthington petition of 1751, and his petition shows more skill in its draftsmanship and construction. It is short and to the point. The following is a copy :
To His Excellency William Sherley Esq., Capt. General and Commander in Chief in & over his Majestys province of the Massa- chusetts bay in N. England, The Honble Majestys Council and House of Representatives in General Court assembled Decr 4th 1753,
The Petition of the Inhabitants of Bedford (so called) in the County of Hampshire, humbly Sheweth :---
That Whereas your Petitioners being about sixty familys Labour under Many difficulties for want of Town Priviledges,
They therefore humbly pray That yo" Excellency & HonTs would in yor great Goodness incorporate them into a District with all Town priviledges except sending a Representative and at the same time to Continue their Power to Collect their outstanding Rates & yo' petitioners as in duty Bound will pray .*
Phineas Pratt In Behalf of said Inhabitants
Whether Phineas Pratt stayed in Boston and looked after his petition himself, or whether he had some one else look after it for him, it unmistakably appears that it was not allowed to be over- looked and forgotten. Bedford had hitherto been a more or less indefinite area on the frontier at the edge of the wilderness. Now, however, Mr. Pratt saw to it that the bill for incorporating Bed- ford into a District contained a surveyor's description of the exact area to be included. This bill was promptly introduced into the House of Representatives and after much delay was passed by that body January 8, 1754. The Council passed it in concurrence the
* Massachusetts Archives, Town Series, Records of the Governor and Council, Volume 115, page 507.
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THE INHABITANTS
next day, and later the Governor signed it, so that it finally became an enactment of the Provincial government January 25, 1754. The act is as follows :
An act for incorporating the plantation called Bedford, in the County of Hampshire, into a separate district by the name of Granville.
Whereas it is represented to this court that the inhabitants of said plantation labour under great difficulties and inconveniences, by reason of their not being invested with the privileges of a dis- trict; therefore
Be it enacted by the Governour, Council and House of Repre- sentatives,
Sec. 1. That the whole of the tract of land in the County of Hampshire called Bedford, bounding as follows, vizt: beginning at a large heap of stones at the southeast corner of said tract, on the line of the colony of Connecticut, thence running no. 10 degrees east, 448 perch to a pine tree marked; thence north 17 degrees west, 90 perch; thence no. 160 perch; thence north 35 degrees east, 123 perch; thence north 24 degrees east, 210 perch to a heap of stones over Mun's Brook; thence north 4 degrees east, 200 perch to a heap of stones with a chestnut staddle marked; thence north 11 degrees west, 164 perch to a large heap of stones; thence north 200 perch to the northeast corner of said tract, being two small chestnut staddles, marked, with stones about them; from thence west 22 degrees north, 916 perch on Westfield line to the southeast corner of Blanford being a birch tree, marked, on the bank of a brook; thence on said Blanford line west 20 degrees no., 2240 perch to the southwest corner of said Blanford; thence the same course 660 perch to a hemlock tree, marked, with stones about it, on the west branch of Farmington River and is the northwest corner of said tract; from thence bounding on said west branch of Farm- ington river as the same runs, to a great hemlock tree at the colony line, being the southwest corner of said tract; from thence on the said colony line east 9 degrees south, 3220 perch to the first station ; be and hereby is erected into a distinct and separate district by the name of Granville; that the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities that towns in this province by law do or may enjoy; that of sending a represen- tative to represent them at this court only excepted.
Provided,
Sec. 2. That nothing in this act shall be understood or so con- strued as in any manner to superceed or make void any order or orders of this court now in force respecting the method of making
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
assessments within said plantation; but that the same shall remain and be as effectual as if this act had not been made.
And be it further enacted,
Sec. 3. That John Worthington, Esqr., be and hereby is im- powered to issue his warrant to some principal inhabitant of the said plantation, requiring him in his majesties name to warn and notify the said inhabitants, qualified by law to vote in town affairs, that they meet together at such time and place, in said plan- tation, as by said warrant shall be appointed, to chuse such officers as may be necessary to manage the affairs of said district; and the said inhabitants being so met, shall be and hereby are impowered to chuse such officers accordingly.
Passed January 25 ; published January 26, 1754.
Chapter 21 of the acts passed at the session begun and held at Boston on the fourth day of December A.D. 1753.
Phineas Pratt could go home satisfied. Through him the inhabi- tants of Bedford had asked for what they wanted and had received what they asked for. At last a definite portion of His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay had emerged from the mists of antiquity and the delightful uncertainty of the "Plantation" stage, and Granville was on the map. Great had been the tribulation and severe had been the trials, which were by no means over, but it was worth it. The game had been worth the candle. Only one thing more was needed to complete Granville's right to its place in the sun. The consent of the King was necessary. It was over two years before this was obtained, but at a meeting of the King and his Council at Kensington, England, on July 7, 1756, the Colonial law incorporating Granville as a District was approved and ratified .*
The inhabitants of Granville might well have said to their neigh- bor, Phineas Pratt, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
* See Massachusetts Archives, Foreign Relations Series, Volume 21, page 522.
The District of Granville
B EDFORD had emerged from the test of incorporation with a new name. Although Atherton Mather had given the name Bed- ford to Toto's hunting ground as early as 1719, the Great and General Court knew nothing about it, so when portions of the Towns of Billerica and Concord asked to be incorporated as a new town by the name of Bedford in 1729, and their petition was granted, it became necessary to find a different name to use in connection with Phineas Pratt's petition. The name selected was Granville. At this late day, it does not appear why that name was taken nor from whose fertile mind the suggestion came. It seems, however, that very likely it was offered by some friend or admirer of the Earl of Granville who was then President of the King's Council. It is stated in Varney's revision of Nason's Gazetteer of Massachusetts that Granville was named after John Carteret, Earl of Granville (1690- 1763), who was a son of George, Lord Carteret, and who was said to be the most brilliant scholar in England. He held many and vari- ous public offices and was Secretary of State in 1742-1744. He became Earl Granville upon the death of his mother who was Countess of Granville, and in 1749 was made a Knight of the Garter and President of the King's Council, which position he held until his death. Politically he was an opponent of Walpole. His arms are described as follows : Arms-Quarterly, I., Gules, 3 clar- ions, 2 & 1, or; II., Gules, a chevron between 3 lions' paws erect & erased ermine; III., Ermine, a bull passant Gules, armed & crined, or ; IV., Azure, frettee argent, a chief or. Supporters-Two dragons or, armed & langued gules.
Doyle's Official Baronage of England, Volume 2, page 66. Surely, a name of which the citizens of Granville may justly be proud.
Now that Granville had become a definite area, let us stop a moment and observe what sort of a locality it was. Its eastern end was about twelve miles west of the Connecticut River and on its southern boundary was the line between the Province of the Massa- chusetts Bay and the Colony of Connecticut. Granville, on the east,
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
began where the hills begin, Sodom Mountain like a rampart marking the eastern boundary, and extended westerly to the Farm- ington River. It is all hills, some having very steep sides and others more gentle in their ascent. The most conspicuous ones have names, the others have none. A few of the names which have come down to us, with their elevations as determined by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, are the following: Sodom Mountain 1126 feet, on the very eastern edge of the District; South Mountain 1200 feet, near the southeast corner of the District; Bad Luck Mountain 1220 feet, standing just northerly from what is now Granville Center; Sweetman Mountain 1503 feet, so called after one of the first settlers whose land was in that part of the District; Cobble Moun- tain 1120 feet, of which much has been heard recently in connection with the dam between it and the hill to the north built by the City of Springfield for a water supply; Winchell Mountain 1362 feet, so named after an early settler, standing on the east side of Valley Brook in the south part of the District; Liberty Hill 1437 feet, so called because a liberty pole was erected there at the time of the Revolutionary War, on the other side of Valley Brook; Ore Hill 1300 feet, westerly and southwesterly from what is now the village of West Granville; Chestnut Hill 1380 feet, a little farther west; then Barnes Mountain 1580 feet; and farther north the broad plateau-like area known as Beech Hill 1500 feet, lying partly in Granville and partly in Blandford; Burt Hill 1567 feet in the central part of the west end of the District; and Noyes Mountain 1700 feet, in the northwest corner. These make up the list of the principal hills embraced in the then newly created District of Granville. From the top of Burt Hill one may look down into the valley of the Farm- ington River as into a vast chasm, the westerly side of the hill being very steep. The hills in the eastern part are much more conspicuous and seem to stand up higher than those in the western part, but the explanation of this is very simple. The general surface of the eastern part is much lower than is the surface of the western part. In passing from east to west in Granville, the general level of the land rises from about 600 feet elevation to something like 1200 feet in the former West Granville, now Tolland; the hills are crowded in so thickly in the western part that the valleys are smaller and shal-
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lower, whereas in the eastern part the hills stand more removed from each other.
Where there are hills there are valleys, and so it is with Gran- ville. It has as many valleys as hills. Some are narrow and deep, like the Great Valley, and some are broader and shallower. Every valley has its own stream, the size of which depends upon how large the area drained by it may be. There are no large streams in Gran- ville. The larger brooks have recognized names, but many of the small brooks are just streams, and some of these do not flow all through the year, being dry during more or less of the summer season.
Again beginning at the east, the principal streams are : Dickinson Brook flowing easterly past the present village of Granville and northerly along the west foot of Sodom Mountain where it unites with Tillotson Brook near the eastern boundary of the District, to form Munn Brook; Seymour Brook watering the valley west of South Mountain and then uniting with Trumbull Brook, and other little streams, flows past the present drum shop and presently is called Dickinson Brook, above mentioned; Valley Brook flowing southerly through the Great Valley between Winchell Mountain and Liberty Hill empties into Hubbard River soon after passing into Connecticut; Pond Brook, the outlet of Parsons Pond near the center of the District, flows southerly passing near the present village of West Granville; Borden Brook, in the northern part of the District, flowing easterly and northerly from Barnes Mountain and Beech Hill, is the outlet of Black Pond; Hubbard River (or Brook) is the outlet of Noyes' Pond, and flows southerly from the region west of Chestnut Hill and ultimately unites with Pond Brook to form the East Branch of the Farmington River; and Slocum Brook, the outlet of Cranberry Pond in the southwest part of the District, flows southwesterly into the Farmington River. All these streams, except the last one, are on the easterly side of the water shed between Farmington River on the west and Little River on the east. Among the smaller brooks are Bancroft Brook flowing southerly from the Wildcat region into the north end of Westfield's Granville Reservoir; Ellis Brook and Potash Brook flowing into Valley Brook from its east and west sides respectively; and Goff
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HISTORY OF GRANVILLE
Brook emptying into Hubbard River easterly from Remington Hill.
Of ponds the District had five of sufficient size to be mentioned, all but one of which are in the northerly portion of the area : Noyes', Black and Parsons, the waters of which all flow easterly ; Messenger Pond in the extreme northwest, near the crest of the ridge, dis- charges its waters westerly, cascading down the mountain into Farmington River; and Cranberry Pond, in the southwest part of the District, discharges its waters into Slocum Brook which flows southwesterly into Farmington River.
Granville was not only well watered, but also it was well wooded. In her forests were pine, hemlock, spruce, tamarack, beech, various species of maple, chestnut, several species of oak, sundry species of birch, elm, pepperidge, hop hornbeam, sassafras, tulip, alder, several species of wild cherry, ash, walnut, both bitter and sweet, basswood and sycamore, from all which came the best of materials for build- ings, farm implements and domestic utensils.
The great need at first was to get rid of some of the forest so hay, grain, vegetables and fruits could be grown and cattle and horses fed. The soil was stony, but good for raising fruit and the necessary forage crops. Game was abundant in the woods and fish in the streams.
Through this little pioneer town ran three principal highways: one east and west from that part of Westfield, then known as Hooppole but now called Mundale, to East Granville, Middle Granville and West Granville; one north and south from Hartland Hollow to Loudon, now Otis; and one north and south from Salmon Brook, now Granby, to Glasgow, now Blandford. These with a few lesser roads were the routes of travel over these hills.
Such was the physical appearance of Granville in 1754, an area of about 42000 acres, with approximately seventy-five families for its total population, seventy-five families which had the vision of reasonable security and future competence, and the courage to go forward unafraid of what might be in store for them.
These settlers were typical New Englanders, hard working, thrifty and God fearing. Most of them had come from older com- munities and had acquired the ability to read and write. Not all were farmers, for among the first to come were a blacksmith and a
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THE DISTRICT OF GRANVILLE
millwright, so that the smithy and the grist and saw mills on the streams ministered to the needs of the settlers from the earliest settlement. Doubtless there were log houses in Granville in the beginning and earliest days of its settlement, but by 1754 it seems reasonably certain that there was sufficient lumber made at the local mills, so that probably all buildings erected after that date, as well as for some years prior thereto, were of frame construction. It was an age of hand work and home manufacture. Seed was planted with a hoe or sowed by hand and harrowed in with a spike-toothed A- shaped harrow. Grain was reaped with a sickle, threshed with a flail, winnowed with a fanning mill turned by hand, and carried to mill on horseback. Flax was rotted in a bog and prepared for spin- ning with a beam and hetchel, and then spun into thread with the flax-wheel, of which every family had at least one, and woven into cloth on the loom in the attic. Wool from the sheep was carded with hand cards, spun into yarn on a spinning wheel and the yarn knit into stockings and mittens and woven into cloth for the clothing of the family. And the dye pot stood behind the stove in winter, after they had stoves. Calf skins and cow hides were tanned at the local tannery and the peripatetic shoemaker went around from house to house making shoes for all the members of the family. Barter was the common method of merchandising. A large part of the local taxes was worked out by labor on the highways. Much, and sometimes all, of the compensation of the minister and the doctor was in kind. The school teacher was an exception. His services were paid for in cash, although the wage was a mere pittance. Their religious tenets were as rock ribbed as the soil on which they dwelt. Stern and severe in the last degree, it was deemed a serious offense to remain away from church services, and repetition thereof was sure to bring on an accusation and hearing, for these sturdy hill dwellers subscribed completely to the Edwards brand of theology.
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