USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Great Barrington > History of Great Barrington, (Berkshire County,) Massachusetts > Part 35
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The county road from Great Barrington, through Van Deusenville, to Richmond, was established in 1770-1, and was, in part, re-located in 1784. But it appears, from the town records, that a bridge-then an old one-was in existence near "John Williams' Upper Mills" in 1766, and this the town voted the next year to rebuild, and appropriated £10, 10. for the pur- pose. In 1778, Angust 31, the town voted "to build a bridge over the Williams Mill River, at the place where the Selectmen shall lay a road." This indicates some change in the location of the bridge. The bridge was rebuilt in that year, at a cost of $306.67, in depre- ciated Continental currency. Thirty-two of the inhab-
410
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
itants were engaged in the work, each receiving $3 per day for his labor. The road running east and west through Van Deusenville-the Great Barrington and Alford turnpike-was not built until 1812 or 1813.
Mr. Williams maintained his mills during his life- - time-he died about 1776-and we find them men- tioned in the survey of the road of 1784, as "Williams' Old Mills." Mr. Williams is also supposed to have ' built-perhaps for one of his sons-the house, now the north part of the old tavern, which is reputed to . have been erected in 1759. Aside from the mills, smith's shop, and house above mentioned, we have no ' evidence of other buildings having been put up in the immediate vicinity of Van Deusenville during the oc --- cupancy of Mr. Williams, though it is probable that. one or two dwellings then stood a short distance south of the bridge. It is also probable that Bill Williams, whose death occurred at nearly the same time with- that of his father, dwelt near by.
The grant of land for the accommodation of the mills, expanded into a lot of seventeen acres, which in: the appraisal of the estate of John Williams, made April 25, 1781, is entered as "the mill lot. 17 acres at 30s .- £25, 10s." This lot lying on the north side of the stream, and west of the county road, included the mill site and the homestead of Enos Ford-the old tavern stand. After the decease of Mr. Williams, and probably as late as 1781, this property, the mills and mill lot, came into the possession of the original Isaac Van Deusen, and was by him conveyed, December 5, 1787, to his son, Jacob Van Deusen, "together with the dwelling house, corn-mill, saw-mill, and other build -. ings thereon standing."
Jacob Van Deusen, then forty-six years old and but; recently married, entered into occupancy of the premises : and continued the mills to his decease in 1812. His. dwelling house-the same conveyed to him by his: father, is the present north or old part of the Enos: Ford tavern. It is remembered as having been seventy years ago, an old red house, with a broad stoop across its south end and a wide porch, with seats, about its east entrance door. The south or new part of the
411*
WORKS OF ISAAC L. VAN DEUSEN.
house was added by Isaac L. Van Deusen, about 1826,. when it was made into a tavern; first kept by George Chase, and later by Phineas Chapin, Henry C. Jewell, and Horace Ticknor. Isaac L. Van Deusen, son of Jacob Van Deusen, succeeded his father in the owner -. ship of the Williams mills, the homestead and a large . surrounding real estate. During his occupancy, the grist-mill was burned, in December, 1829; the saw-mill had been previously taken down.
More than sixty years ago there was a dam on the Williams River, a little east of the present rail-road bridge, from which water was taken in a race-way to run a wool carding and cloth dressing mill which stood some distance below on the right hand, or west side of the stream. These works, apparently erected as early as 1816, were then operated by Amos Church, and later by Orange H. Arnold and by Martin Pratt. A lane led from where the office of the Iron Company now is-near the bridge-to these works. On the . north side of this lane, a little west of the rail-road,. a dwelling house is remembered to have stood, and another house was also standing on the site of the one next south of the office. These were then antiquated structures and are supposed to have been connected. with the occupancy of the mills by John Williams.
Down to about 1820, the mills and dwellings we' have mentioned, with a saw-mill on the south side of the stream, comprised the principal improvements at. Van Deusenville. The Rev. Sylvester Burt, in the History of Berkshire, 1829, says of Van Deusenville :: " On Williams River, half a mile from its entrance into. the Housatonic, where in 1822 there were only one or two dwelling houses, a saw-mill and a grist-mill, there is now a thriving village called Van Deusenville. Here are now eighteen dwelling houses, a post office and tavern, two stores and two factories, one of cotton and the other of woolen. Here also a chapel is now build- ing for the worship of God."
Captain Isaac L. Van Deusen, from whom the village derives its name, was the first to institute the modern. improvements at that place. His first important enter- prise was the erection of a woolen factory ; this was,
412
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
built in 1822-3, on the north side of the stream, west of the bridge and between the old grist-mill and the bridge. This factory, a wood structure painted red, was first operated by Isaac L. Van Deusen and Sidney N. Norton, afterwards by Washington Adams & Co. The goods then, and for several years made, were sati- nets. Mr. Adams, later-about 1837-substituted cotton machinery for woolen, and from that time manufactured cotton sheetings down to 1847, when he removed to South Adams. The factory remained for a few years unoccupied, and was taken down by the Richmond Iron Works. Mr. Adams, also, later than 1829, built a small brick store near the site of the old Williams grist-mill, then recently burned.
In 1828, Isaac L. Van Deusen built another fac- tory, lower down and on the east side of the stream, for the manufacture of cotton goods. This was car- ried on for a time by the Berkshire Cotton Company- in which Isaac L. Van Deusen, Wilbur Curtis of Egre- mont, Edward F. Ensign of Sheffield, Major Samuel Rosseter, and others were interested. These works were then, for a long time, conducted under the man- agement of Captain Benjamin Peabody in the different firms of Peabody, Eldridge & Coats, Peabody & Coats and Munson & Peabody. Still later, Olney Goffe ran this factory, and during his occupancy-September 4, 1861-it was destroyed by fire.
Near the site of the clothier's works, which have been mentioned, Washington Adams, about 1837, erect- ed a building for a cotton mill, introduced machinery and operated it for a time. This building afterwards became a chair manufactory, and the business was car- ried on by Captain Benjamin Peabody and Frederick Chapin in 1839, and later by I. D. W. and Orrin Bald- win, who were burned out May 6, 1842.
In addition to the works we have described, was a saw-mill owned sixty years ago by Deacon Isaac, John C., Jacob H., and Isaac L. Van Deusen. This stood on the south side of the stream, west of the bridge. It was removed by the Richmond Iron Works some years since, to make room for the blowing works con- nected with the blast furnace.
413
IRON WORKS.
In 1833-4, John C. Coffing and Timothy Chitten- den of Salisbury, Conn., put up a blast furnace for the manufacture of pig-iron, on the south side of the stream at Van Deusenville. The furnace was soon put in operation and was managed by Phineas Chapin & Co., the firm then including Messrs. Coffing & Chittenden and John R. Montgomery. It was later operated by John C. Coffing, Timothy Chittenden, John H. Coffing and Gilbert Munson, under the firm of Coffing, Mun- son & Co., down to 1844, when it was purchased by the Richmond Iron Works. Under the ownership of this company, the furnace was remodeled and improved in 1856-7, and has become one of the most important industries of the town; in fact the only one, of the several we have mentioned at Van Deusenville, which has survived the changes of time and circumstances.
In the earlier years of its business, this furnace was in part supplied with ore from the, so-called, Dewey ore-bed, east of Lebbeus M. Pixley's-the same from which David Ingersoll obtained ore for his forge, near- ly one hundred years before. The ore for this furnace is now drawn entirely from West Stockbridge and Richmond.
The business of rope making, on a moderate scale, was established at Van Deusenville by Phineas Chapin about 1837, and was continued by himself, and by John M. Fryer until within a few years past. The rope walk, which stood on the meadow in rear of the dwel- ling of Mr. Chapin-now of James Holmes-has since disappeared.
In addition to the improvements made by Isaac L. Van Deusen, which have been mentioned-he erected about 1825, his dwelling house-now the residence of John H. Coffing-and between 1822 and 1825, a store -a few years since removed-which for a time he oc- cupied in partnership with George Pynchon and Pren- tice Comstock. This store stood on the north bank of the stream directly east of the bridge.
The enterprises of Mr. Van Deusen and others, with the opening of the road to Stockbridge, by way of Glendale, in 1828, the erection of the Episcopal chapel in 1829, and the establishment there of a post
414
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
office the same year, gave to Van Deusenville a very considerable business importance. In 1837, the pro- ject of organizing a bank in this town was under agi- tation, and a sharp rivalry existed between the main village and Van Deusenville for its location. In this, Van Deusenville so far prevailed, that a committee of the legislature, deciding in favor of that place, report- ed a bill for the establishment of a bank-"The Wil- liams River Bank"-to be-at Van Deusenville. But the charter was not granted. In 1844-5, after the burning of the town house, while the project of build- ing a new one was under consideration, the inhabitants of Van Deusenville and of the north part of the town were so strenuously in favor of its location at that place, that the town was unable to agree upon it, and finally settled the matter by leasing a hall and aban- doning the project of building. In the days of its greatest prosperity, Van Deusenville had three stores, a tavern, an Episcopal chapel, two factories, a chair shop, a rope walk, a wagon maker's shop, and a blast furnace. But as we have intimated, with the excep- tion of the furnace, all its manufacturing industries have passed down the stream of time.
Isaac L. Van Deusen, to whose energy and enter- prise the village was so largely indebted, and whose resources were impaired in building it up, removed in 1834, to Grafton, Ohio, and died there. He was high- ly esteemed, represented this town four years in the General Court, 1820-21 and 1827-28, and was also for several years town treasurer.
CHAPTER XXX.
HOUSATONIC AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
At the village of Housatonic bordering on Stock- "bridge and West Stockbridge, in the extreme north part of the town, no settlements were made earlier than 1809, nor had much been done at that time, towards clearing off the forest which spread over that section. At this place the Housatonic River flowing ¿along the western base of Monument Mountain, fur- nishes an abundant water power, and three-fourths of a mile below, where the mountain recedes from the river, other valuable mill sites are obtained. Until within a few years past this, then small, village was limited entirely to the western side of the river, but it has latterly crossed the stream and now spreads over ¿a large area.
The village is not ancient, for it has grown up en- tirely within the memory of persons still living, and its + early history is confined to that part which lies west of the river. The lands on both sides of the river at Housatonic, are a part of the so called, Equalizing land, which the proprietors of the township decreed, in 1749, sshould be laid out in such a manner as to equalize the home lots originally set out to the several settlers. But .these lands were not divided until 1770. In making the division there was allotted to the original right of . John Burghardt, alias De Bruer, a tract of twenty-three ¿and one-half acres bounding east, forty-two rods on the ›river, and extending west on the town line one hundred „and two rods. This tract includes the north-easterly . section of the village, and the upper water privilege.
416
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
This land as early as 1794, was in possession of Andrew Burghardt, who in that year conveyed it to Captain Ezekiel Stone, who then lived about three- fourths of a mile north of the town line, in the town of West Stockbridge. It was upon this tract that the- first improvements made at Housatonic, fifteen years later, were undertaken. Aside from the immediate- farm improvements of the dwellers along the North. Plain, the lands between it and the Housatonic river had not to much extent been innovated upon previous: to 1809, and although we have a tradition of a cart. path penetrating that section, no public road had as yet been opened through it. It is related that about 1807, a daughter of William Turner-then seven or eight years old-wandered from her home. on the late Zalmon T. Bradley place, into the woods, and was lost. Search was made for her during the day and the suc- ceeding night, and she was found the next morning re- clining against a tree near the river bank, a short dis- tance above the "Dry Bridge," near the present village. of Housatonic.
In 1808, Captain Stone was the owner not only of the Burghardt lot but apparently of other land adjoin- ing it on the south. The first step taken towards a. settlement at Housatonic was in a purchase made December 8, 1808, of Captain Stone, by Stephen Sib- ley, the clock-maker, and Abel Sherman from Rhode Island, who had resided a short time in this town, and who was an uncle of our late townsman of the same name. Captain Stone owned the land in Stockbridge, immediately north of the town line, and the purchase. made by Sibley & Sherman, eleven rods in width at its north end, extended seven rods and nine links north into Stockbridge, bounded east on the river, and its west line ran southerly thirty-five rods and fifteen links to a white oak tree on the edge of the river. This tract, between two and three acres, included "the mill seat adjoining," and was known as the "Mill Yard." It embraced the upper water privilege of the Monument Mills and the ground on which their upper mills stand.
Mr. Sibley at the same time bought of Captain Stone two other pieces, of three and one half and six
417
SIBLEY & SHERMAN.
acres each, lying west and south of the Mill Yard, with a three rod strip between them, "which is contemplated for a public road." This strip is that part of the Main street of the village, which lies between the office of the Monument Mills and the dwelling of Harvey H. B. Turner. Mr. Sherman at the same time purchased eleven acres lying south of the tracts bought by Mr. Sibley. These several purchases included a large part of the village as it was a few years ago, and all the water power on the west side of the river.
Sibley & Sherman erected a dam, where the upper dam of the Monument Mills now stands, and a saw- mill a little distance below it. The dam and mill are supposed to have been built in 1809. They were standing in May, 1811. Captain Jabez Turner is re- puted to have built the dam, and Elnathan J. Barnes and the late Abel Sherman worked upon it.
At about the same time with the building of these works, Mr. Sherman erected the first dwelling house in the village. This house is still standing, next west of the Congregational church. The works we have mentioned, together with "a shop " standing in 1813, constituted all the improvements made by Sibley & Sherman.
In the spring of 1810, the first roads in Housatonic were laid out by the town. These were in part re- located the next year. The road, as a whole, ran from the saw-mill westerly through the present Main street and over the hill to the North Plain. From this road, by the residence of H. H. B. Turner, a branch ran northerly to the town line, where it joined a road pre- viously established by the town of West Stockbridge.
In 1813, the late Eber Stone-son of Captain Eze- kiel Stone-built the second dwelling house in the place ; the same in which H. H. B. Turner now resides. Eber Stone was a maker of spinning wheels. These for a time he made by hand in a shop near his house. The fourth house-erected about 1827-was built by James C. Hyde, upon the site of the new dwelling of Cyrus R. Crane. At the raising of this house the place received the first of the three distinctive names by which it has since been known. When the raising
27
418
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
was completed, Peter French mounted the frame, and from a lofty perch, threw the customary bottle of rum, at the same time proclaiming "I name this place Babylon ;" and Babylon it was called for the space of ten years.
In 1814, Mr. Sherman sold his interest in the lands and improvements at Housatonic to Ezekiel and Eber Stone, and two years later Mr. Sibley conveyed his to the State of Connecticut, presumably exchanging it for lands in Ohio, whither he soon after removed. Even- tually the property owned by Sibley & Sherman came into the possession of the legal representatives of Captain Stone.
Previous to this, in 1811, Captain Stone purchased of Mr. Sibley, a small piece of ground, eighteen by thirty feet, between the saw-mill and dam, with certain rights to water. But we have no evidence that he utilized this purchase. This he conveyed, in 1818, to Eber Stone and Milton Ball, who built upon it a shop for the manufacture of spinning wheels, which they together or separately carried on for several years. The saw-mill and wheel shop constituted all the im- provements of the water power made previous to 1825, and there appear to have been but two dwellings in the village at that time.
In 1824, October 26, Eber Stone, John Crissey, and James C. Hyde, sold to Ransom Whitmore-a ma- chinist from East Haddam, Conn .-- three acres of land, including the saw-mill, dam, and water power. Mr. Whitmore, with the intention of engaging in the man- ufacture of cotton goods, erected a building for that purpose-probably in 1825-6, but put in no machinery. Not succeeding so well as he had anticipated, Ransom Whitmore abandoned his project, and in April, 1827, sold his property, including a dwelling house which he had built, to his brother, Perley D. Whitmore-a machinist-and Sprowell Dean, a manufacturer from Springfield. These gentlemen, with the aid of ma- chinists tools, which they introduced, soon fitted the building with machinery, and began the manufacture of cotton goods. Dean & Whitmore built a row of tenements along the west side of the street by the
419
HOUSATONIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
river, a store which stood opposite their factory, and gathered about them a small population of operatives. Simultaneously with these improvements, the village assumed the name of Deansville, and the road along the river, leading from Van Deusenville to Glendale, was opened.
Dean & Whitmore continued the business until 1835, when the Housatonic Manufacturing Company was organized, and purchased the property. Mr. Dean disposing of his interest in the business removed from town in 1836. P. D. Whitmore and Wells Laflin be- came the business managers of the corporation, and ultimately the owners of nearly all of its capital stock. This company engaged in the manufacture of printing cloths which it continued to the autumn of 1848, when it made a disastrous failure. With the advent of the Housatonic Manufacturing Company, the village re- ceived the name of Housatonicville, later abbreviated to Housatonic.
During the thirteen years of its existence, the Hou- satonic Manufacturing Company made material addi- tions to its works, real estate and dwellings. In time, under the auspices of this corporation, and with the aid of new enterprises, introduced by others, Housatonic became a thriving village, notable for the morality, sobriety, and industry of its inhabitants. A Congre- gational society was formed, and a church erected in 1842, and a minister, at the same time, was settled.
The wheel shop of Eber Stone and Milton Ball, which has been mentioned, was purchased in the spring of 1830, by Edward and William Selkirk, brothers, from Haddam, Conn., who introduced the manufacture of shoe lasts, which became an important industry in the village. This shop was removed in 1836, and a brick building erected upon its site, in which William Selkirk for many years carried on last making. This also was eventually taken down by Mr. Selkirk, and he put up in its place another building, which having done a few years' service as a grist mill, passed into the pos- session of the Monument Mills and now forms a part of their works.
Until 1829 the lower water privilege remained un-
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HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
occupied. In or about that year Eber Stone and Mor- ris M. Brainard built a dam and put up a building, in which they manufactured planes and other carpenters tools until 1837. The tool shop was, about this time, converted into a chair manufactory by Eber Stone and Jason C. Keach, who were succeeded in the business, about 1842, by George Maxfield, who erected an addi- tional building to the north of the tool shop, in which he made chairs until 1848.
In 1842, Albert D. Whitmore began the business of last making, and P. D. Whitmore introduced the manufacture of cotton twine and carpet yarn in 1844. These enterprises were carried on in the old tool and chair shop buildings. The twine manufacture went down with the failure of the Housatonic Manufacturing Company in 1848, and the buildings were burned in July, 1850.
Albert D. Whitmore soon after rebuilt, a few feet north of the old works, and resumed the making of lasts, but was again burned out in 1856 or 1857. He again re- built, and for a time carried on the manufacture of fold- ing chairs, wagon wheels, etc. The building, last erect- ed by Mr. Whitmore, now forms part of the lower works -"the Little Wawbeek" -- of the Monument Mills.
The store we have mentioned, built by Dean & Whitmore-since removed and made into a dwelling- was occupied by them until 1835, and later, successive- ly, by the Housatonic Manufacturing Company, Heman Laflin, and Whitmore & Taylor until 1846. From January 1846 to the fall of 1848 Charles Taylor and Charles J. Taylor, under the firm of C. & C. J. Taylor, were its occupants. This, until 1845, was the only store in the village. In its upper story was a small hall, which, until the church was erected, was used for religious meetings, and was later the lodge room of the Sons of Temperance.
The two or three years immediately following the failure of the Housatonic Manufacturing Company were a period of gloom with the village. The cotton mills were idle, the tenements were vacated, and many of the inhabitants moved away. Last making was the only industry maintained. During this period the Stockbridge and Pittsfield railroad was built, running
421
MONUMENT MILLS.
parallel with the river and immediately within the street, to the permanent injury of the village. None felt sufficient interest in the place to oppose its location.
But brighter days were in store for Housatonic. In 1850, Messrs. J. C. & A. C. Russell, John H. Coffing and others united in purchasing the property previous- ly owned by the Housatonic Manufacturing Company, and were, the next year, incorporated as the Monument Mills. This corporation then instituted the manufac- ture of cotton warps. John M. Seeley became the agent of this corporation in 1854, and has continued in that capacity to the present time The Monument Mills has gradually extended its buildings and manu- facturing facilities, and its works now constitute the largest and most important business industry of the town. About 1864, John M. Seeley, Henry Adams, and Joseph G. Fuller built a small mill at the lower privilege, on the site of the former chair shop and twine mill, and began the manufacture of cotton warps.
Until 1858, the river at Housatonic was not bridged. In that year the road leading from the foot of Monu- ment Mountain to the village was opened and the bridge built, and later, a saw-mill was erected on the east side of the river, just above the bridge. This was the first improvement made, in the immediate vicinity of the village, on the east side.
In 1866, George Coffing, George Church, John M. Seeley and others organized a corporation-The Waw- beek Mills-and purchased the whole of the lower privilege, including the warp mill on the west and the saw-mill on the east side of the river. This company erected in 1866, the brick factory at the east end of the bridge, which, in connection with the mill on the east side, has since been run on cotton warps. In 1870, the Wawbeek Mills introduced the manufacture of Marseilles counterpanes, putting up, for the time, Jac- quard looms, in the small mill. But this business grew to such importance, that it was removed to the east side, where additional works were erected for its accommodation, which are now conducted by Cyrus R. Crane. In January, 1871, the Wawbeek Mills con- veyed all of its mills and improvements to the Monu-
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