USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Hatfield > History of Hatfield, Massachusetts, in three parts: I. An account of the development of the social and industrial life of the town from its first settlement. II. The houses and homes of Hatfield, with personal reminiscences of the men and women who have lived there during the last one hundred years; brief historical accounts of the religious societies and of Smith Academy; statistical tables, etc. III. Genealogies of the families of the first settlers > Part 14
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"Samuel Gillet .- He was one of the three children of widow Hannah Gillet, who had been, on Sept. 19, 1677, five months the wife of Stephen Jennings. She with two of her children were carried captive. All were brought back by her husband and Benjamin Waite the next spring, with the addition of her new born daughter-Captivity Jennings.
"John Graves .- His father was one of the slain of Sept. 19. John was now a man of mature age with a wife and six children. Prudent but brave, he was not backward in the contest. As he warmed up in the pursuit across the meadows, he threw off his belt, coat and waist-coat, which were lost in the retreat ; but he was cool enough to pick up a blanket and a hatchet which had been dropped by the Indians, whom they had driven in their first onset. Had this hatchet appeared on this platform, with well established traditions how it had been preserved in the Graves of his ancestral line for nine score years and five; in spite of my reputation hereabouts as an iconoclast, I could not have the heart to send this to keep company with the 'little hatchet.' of G. W. But as I too 'cannot tell a lie,' only careful concealment would have been made of the fact that the hatchet picked up by John Graves was taken by the government and sold for one shilling and sixpence.
"John Marsh .- Two of this name were living in Hatfield at this time, and our John cannot be certainly identified. But he was there and probably his double. A petition to the General Court gives the name of John Marsh as one of the band of fighters on the meadows. By another official list we find 'John Marsh and Sarah Dickinson, two Hatfield persons,' named as among the captives. Finding these two persons thus conjoined by those who knew the facts, I have looked for some romantic sequel to this untoward result of John and Sarah's unfortunate visit to Deerfield and consequently to Canada. So far the search has been fruitless.
"Thomas Russell .- His mother and two brothers were killed Sept. 19, when he was but four years old. The traditions of this event must have come to him this morning with a new reality, and nerved his arm for the desperate encounter. But he came off safe, only to be killed while on a scout near Deerfield the next year.
"John and Joseph Smith were of the rescuing party, but of the six Johns and five Josephs living at this date in Hatfield, these two cannot be identified, and credit must be given to the Smith family in general. The probabilities are, however, that Joseph was the son of that John Smith who was killed by Indians on your meadow May 30, 1676, and the husband of Canada Waite, daughter of Benjamin and Martha Waite, born in captivity, January, 1678. In this case, Joseph must have witnessed the death of his father-in-law while fighting by his side.
"Benjamin Waite .- Your adopted son, the hero of to-day, the trusted guide of Capt. William Turner, on his march to Peskeompskut, May 18, 1676. When his fellow guide, Experience Hinsdell, lost his head and his bearing, the next morning, and led one party to destruction in the dark morass, our
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
cool headed hero led Capt. Turner's main body through the swarming savages, mad for revenge, and brought it safe to Hatfield.
"John Waite, son of Benjamin, could not be far from the side of his father. Little could he anticipate, as he looked upon the desolation of Deerfield, that his daughter would marry one of the rescued boys, and that hundreds with his blood in their veins, would become prominent in the annals of reconstructed Deerfield.
"Daniel, John and Samuel, sons of Daniel Warner, must have been full of anxiety for the safety of the family of their brother Ebenezer, and their sister Lydia, with her two weeks old baby. They found in the place of Ebenezer's comfortable home, a glowing chasm; and his whole family in the power of the red-handed foe. Their sister with her baby was safe, and her husband joined the brothers in the vain attempt to recover their kindred.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you and I have a direct and personal interest in these men. Their blood flows in the veins of many I see around me, and doubtless many a heart-beat has quickened at the mention of their names and deeds. For myself I count among them two direct ancestors. Twelve of allied blood fought shoulder to shoulder with your ancestors on that fated day; two of whom left dead upon the field of honor, rest in the same grave which holds the ashes of their unfortunate companions in arms from Hatfield and Hadley. What wonder if our blood grows hot as we recall that day of horror. The life current of sixteen of my kindred crimsoned the snow upon which their mangled bodies had been ruthlessly flung, and twice that number were captives in the hands of the marauders; forlorn, despairing, hopeless, destined to a march through the deep snows of the unbroken forest to the far off Canada.
"If these personalities seem obtrusive, bear in mind that I represent not myself alone. My story is but the duplicate of that which may be told by many who hear it. I speak for them also."
The following additional information about the attack at the Hatfield mill in 1704 was written by Rev. Stephen Wil- liams of Longmeadow :-
"About the middle of July (the 10th) 1704, a friend indian was killed at Hatfield Mill. His name was Kindness. The enemy had not opportunity to scalp him. On the same week, Thomas Russell, a young man of Hatfield, (being then a soldier at Deerfield) was sent out into ye woods with others as a scout, but he rambling from his company, was killd by ye indians.
"Some tracks discovered Deacon Sheldon wth some others went after ym & came in sight of ym, and shot at ym, & yy at ye english at a great distance, & then yy past along on ye west side of ye Town, & fird yr guns in a bravado, & went along up to ye Northward, & killd Thos Russell July 20, 1704."
The summer of 1704 was a time of great anxiety in all the valley towns. The fortifications in Hatfield were again built as they had been in King William's war and those living outside were ordered to assist those who felt too greatly burdened by the work of completing the part on their land. Stairs were built to the turret on the meeting- house. The town stock of ammunition was inventoried and found to consist of :-
"one half bbl powder about 50 weight one small bbl 40
one greater
Lead in bullets 50 weight. Bars 15 in number."
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
An appropriation was made to purchase 250 pounds of lead, 450 flints, and 6 guns.
After the capture of Pascommuck Fort, an outlying ham- let of Northampton, at the northeast end of Mt. Tom, a report came that an army was fitting out in Canada to destroy all the settlements on the river. Maj. William Whiting was sent from Connecticut with 342 men and addi- tional troops were sent to him from time to time. These preparations were reported by the Indian spies and the army of the enemy, consisting of 700 Indians and 125 French soldiers under Captain de Beaucours, turned back, not daring to attack, though they came within one day's march of the towns. Governor De Vaudreuil reported to the French gov- ernment that a panic seized the Indian allies after the deser- tion of a French soldier and they could not be prevented from retreating. Major Whiting reported to the governor of Connecticut that his march north from Pascommuck in pursuit of the Indians was "near sixty miles in a most hideous, mountainous and swampy country." The report further stated that after the return to the headquarters at Hatfield, May 16, there were 200 men stationed there and at Hadley and Northampton. Colonel Partridge and Major Whiting determined that the best defense would be to keep strong and alert garrisons in the towns rather than to attack in force the enemy in the wilderness. Scouting parties were frequently sent, who reported the enemy to be gathered in large numbers at Cowass (Barnet), Vt.
November 18, 1705, Colonel Partridge was allowed by the General Court £20 for his "Extraordinary Trouble and Serv- ice in the affairs of the War."
The negotiations for the redemption of prisoners taken at Deerfield and other places occupied a long time and the French governor became alarmed for the safety of Canada, against which Governor Dudley of Massachusetts was anx- ious to organize an expedition. Scouting parties were sent out by both the English and French and the wilderness between Canada and the English frontier towns became familiar to the whites as well as to the Indians in the many skirmishes which took place. The English towns were kept garrisoned and a sharp watch was maintained to forestall any attack. Some of the Deerfield captives were returned to their homes in 1705, many more in 1706, others in 1707.
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Some never returned to their homes, preferring the wild and free life among the savages. A general truce was observed while negotiations for the ransom of the captives was going on.
Hatfield took advantage of the lull in hostilities to build a new schoolhouse. In December, 1706, specifications for it were acted upon in town meeting and all the inhabitants were called upon to perform part of the labor. It was to be "in length twenty five feet, in breadth as the old house, the sides and ends to be done with hewn log timber, with sills and plates and beams, with a roof as is usual, boarded and shingled, and a new chimney of brick and stone." The old building was torn down and as much of the timber used as was found suitable. Thirty-five pounds was at that time paid Dr. Hastings for his services as teacher, and each boy who attended school had to furnish one load of wood, or, if he attended only three months in the winter, half a load.
A threatened attack in 1707 by a small party of French and Indians was averted by news sent to Colonel Partridge by Col. Peter Schuyler at Albany on intelligence brought by Mohawk spies. If the Indians could not be sure of surprise, they were not willing to undertake an attack on a fort or garrisoned town. Lurking savages committed murders throughout the war whenever they found opportunity. Labor in the fields had to be done under a strong guard.
The year 1708 was another of alarm. Preparations for an expedition were begun in Montreal early in the year, but nothing was done till summer. August 6 Colonel Schuyler sent word that 800 men were marching toward New Eng- land. Many of them were French Mohawks. The Indians were induced by Colonel Schuyler's messengers to desert and many other Indians also deserted. De Rouville, the commander of the expedition, kept on with the French troops and some savages and attacked Haverhill August 29. It was feared that he would appear in the Connecticut valley and troops were again secured from Connecticut, but the alarm proved groundless.
During 1708 the French were kept on the defensive by an abortive attempt against Canada. General Nicholson, lieu- tenant governor of New York, advanced with an army of 1,500 from Albany. He halted at Lake Champlain to await the arrival of an English fleet to cooperate in an attack on
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Quebec. The fleet did not appear and the land expedition returned. Reverses suffered by the English in Portugal were responsible for the failure of the fleet to sail to America. In April of that year a scouting party under Capt. Benjamin Wright of Northampton, with volunteers from the valley towns, defeated bands of Indians at French river and on Lake Champlain. Joseph Waite, son of Benjamin Waite, and Joseph Root of Hatfield took part in this expedition. Cap- tain Wright was allowed £12 for his services, and each of his men £6. He had 15 men with him, including two Indians, and they were gone over a month. This is the expedition noted by Dr. Hastings under date of May, 1709. Colonel Partridge in forwarding an account of the affair to the Gen- eral Court to secure a reward for the men said that they were very sure they killed four of the enemy at Lake Cham- plain and four more at French river. One scalp was brought home.
A counter attack was made in June by a party of 180 under De Rouville. They were repulsed at Deerfield in the latter part of the month. Few particulars of this encounter have been preserved. The entries made by Dr. Hastings under date of June 23 and 24, 1709, refer to it.
In 1711 another expedition was fitted out against Canada. Ten transports and 1,000 men were lost by shipwreck in the St. Lawrence in August and the expedition turned back to Boston, whence they had set out with 15 war ships and 40 transports. General Nicholson had an army of 4,000 ready at Albany, but they did not strike a blow. Among the 18 companies furnished by Massachusetts was one from Hamp- shire County under command of Capt. Ebenezer Pomeroy of Northampton. The pay roll of this company from June 2 to October 26 amounted to £367 2s. 10d., but the muster roll has not been preserved, so the soldiers' names are not known.
Through the winter an outpost was maintained thirty or forty miles above Deerfield. Connecticut sent troops to aid Colonel Partridge in the defense of Hampshire County and two companies of men equipped with snowshoes were sent from the Bay to be under his orders. In the spring of 1712 he was allowed seven shillings each for 468 pairs of snow- shoes and moccasins which he had furnished the members of the Hampshire regiment. No particulars of that winter's campaign have been found.
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
The last Indian raid in the war was made in the summer . of 1712, the following account of it being from a letter written by Colonel Partridge to Governor Dudley :-
"HATFIELD Aug 4, 1712 "May it please yor Excellency
"On Wednesday the 30 July past in ye forenoone came too me a Messengr enforming of a young man taken by a ptie of the Enemy at Springfield in the afternoone a massenger from Derefd that or western scout from thence was attaqued by the enemy & sd ther were most of them taken & killed, but upon a more full acct there is one man killed & two taken of them, at Night a Messenger from or Eastern scouts gave news of the discovery of a ptie of 8 or 9 seen & they made shot at ym but the enemy soon ran out of reach towards Brookfd We immeadiately sent a post to Brookfd to enforme them, who immeadiately sent out to all there work folks abroad & in there way see 6 or 8 Indians-Alarmed the ye said workers & disappointed the Enemy who were about Secretly to way lay them, but run for it-by all this it plainly appears the Enemy are on every hand of us-Laying waite for to accomplish their bloody designes-the same night a post from Albany came with the Enclosed, The lettr doth not speak of it, but the Missingrs say ye Govr of Canada Looks for a speedy Peace, but will do as much spoyle as he can before it comes.
"I have Given Notice to Capt. How of the Enemys Appearance here wch may soone come over to ym
"Major Stoddard & myself are Secureing all pts by scouts & guards as much as we can to prvent the Sudden Surprizes of the Enemy who doubt- less will do all the mischeef they can before they go off with my Humble Service prsented to yr Excellency & whole family Rendering my Self
"yor Obeydient & very Humble Servt "SAMLL PARTRIDGE. "Yor Excellency's directions is at all tymes advantageous to us."
Dr. Hastings's entries of July 29 and 30, 1712, give the names of the victims. The son of Joseph Wright of Spring- field was Benjamin, aged eighteen. He was killed by his captors.
The Peace of Utrecht, signed March 30, 1713, brought the war to a close. The total loss of lives of the inhabitants of Hampshire County was 119; 25 had been wounded and 125 were captured, of whom 112 belonged to Deerfield. Deer- field suffered more than any other town, having 60 of its inhabitants slain and 9 wounded, and it would have been abandoned again but for the determined efforts of Colonel Partridge in keeping a garrison there after the massacre of 1704 to protect the few settlers who were willing to remain.
The Hatfield men killed were Benjamin Waite, Samuel Allis, and Samuel Foote in the fight in the Deerfield mead- ows, March 1, 1704; Thomas Russell at Deerfield, July, 1705; and Ebenezer Field at Bloody Brook, Oct. 26, 1708. To these should be added Stephen Jennings, killed at Brook- field, July 22, 1710. He was either the Stephen Jennings
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
who was the companion of Benjamin Waite in his expedition to Canada, or his son. The family had moved to Brookfield after King Philip's war.
Two of the captives belonged in Hatfield. An account of the massacre at Deerfield found among the papers of Fitz John Winthrop, governor of Connecticut from 1698 to 1707, now in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Soci- ety, gives the names of "Jno Marsh and Sarah Dickinson, 2 Hatf'd persons" in the table of losses. This John Marsh was probably one of the sons of Daniel Marsh. He was born March 9, 1679, so that he was about twenty-four at the time of his captivity. It is not known how long he remained in Canada. The only Sarah Dickinson who could have been the person named was the twelve-year-old daughter of John Dickinson. She was married Feb. 15, 1709, to John Leonard of Springfield. Nothing about her captivity or ransom has been discovered.
The war expenses fell very heavily on Massachusetts and a large debt was incurred. In May, 1713, the amount of the unredeemed province bills was £127,000. The tax levied on Hampshire County yearly amounted to over £1,000. Hat- field's share of the province tax was £136 10s. in 1708 and about the same amount in other years.
After Queen Anne's war came an interval of peace lasting till 1722. During this time occurred, as previously noted, a new survey of the common lands divided in 1684, and prob- ably many of the fields were then fenced, cleared, and culti- vated, for during the next war the difficulty and danger of harvesting the crops on the outlying farms is often spoken of in reports and letters. Many Hatfield men shared in the distribution of commons in Hadley lying south of Mt. Hol- yoke. The amount of land divided is not known. Allotment was made in 1720 according to the estates given in the adjoined table, which is taken from Judd's "History of Had- ley." The Hadley citizens had larger proportions, their estates being valued at from £20 to over £100. The largest landholder from Hadley was Samuel Porter, Esq., who received an allotment proportioned to a valuation of £295 18s.
"Col. Samuel Partridge, Esq. £48 Os.
Thomas Nash
6 10 0 Isaac Hubbard 26 0 Richard Church 19
-
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
John Graves
2
0
Ichabod Porter
16
0
Jonathan Cowles
4
10
Joseph Smith
3
0
Sergt. Stephen Belding
4
0
Deac. Samuel Marsh
15
0
Nathaniel Dickinson
2
10
Samuel Dickinson
3
0
Daniel Warner
12
0
Ebenezer Billing
6
0
Cornet Samuel Belding.
5
0
Ebenezer Warner
4
0
Ebenezer Wells
11
0
Jonathan Smith
2
0
Nathaniel Dickinson, 2d.
13
10
Joseph Kellogg
7
0
Jonathan Graves
3
0
Thomas Dickinson's heirs in Connecticut
6
10
£6,063 8s."
In 1720 all the unassigned land in Hopewell Swamp was sequestered for the support of schools. Northfield was reoc- cupied in 1714, this time permanently, and the same year a settlement was made at Sunderland, first called Swampfield, chiefly by men from Hatfield and Hadley. A settlement was made on the Hoosatonic at Sheffield about the same time. The settlement of new towns gave additional security to those that had so long been exposed to attacks as frontier outposts.
Shortly after the war a small settlement was begun at West Brook. Jeremiah Waite had been granted use of the stream to set up a fulling mill in 1709 and he probably settled there as soon as peace was assured. He was joined by sev- eral others. Sawmill privileges there were granted to Joseph Belden, Richard Scott, Nathaniel Dickinson, Joseph Clary, and Joseph Scott. Some of these houses were on the Straits road in the present town of Whately. Joseph Bel- den's house, which was fortified, was the Zabina Bartlett place at Bartlett's Corner. North of him houses were soon after built by Josiah Scott, Jr., Ebenezer Bardwell, and perhaps Elijah and Benjamin Scott. South of Belden's were Josiah Scott, Sr., David Graves, John Waite, and Elisha Smith. There is reference in the Hatfield records to a schoolhouse at the Straits as early as 1733, showing that by that time there must have been quite a few families there. James M. Crafts, who revised and enlarged Temple's "His- tory of Whately" in 1899, and whose authority is followed in the statements of these early Whately settlers, thought
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
that Samuel Wells built on his lot in the Bradstreet farm on the river road as early as 1710. The Chestnut Plain road, on which the Whately street was located, was not built upon as early as this. Whately was incorporated in 1771. The other early settlers of the town before and after its incorporation are fully noted in the Crafts "History."
The fourth period of Indian warfare lasted from 1722 to 1725 and is known as Father Rasle's war. Sebastian Rasle was a Jesuit missionary stationed at Norridgewock on the Kennebec. He stirred up the Eastern Indians, or Abenakis, against the English, acting under orders from Governor De Vaudreuil. In June, 1722, the Indians captured a num- ber of English in Maine and burned Brunswick. War was declared upon them July 25 by Gov. Samuel Shute of Massa- chusetts. De Vaudreuil sent 160 Indians from Canada to join the hostile savages, but no French troops took part in the operations in this war.
Col. Samuel Partridge, then seventy-six years old, was again put in command of the forces in Hampshire County, having as his lieutenant John Stoddard of Northampton, who was commissioned lieutenant colonel and afterwards became a very prominent man. Headquarters were again at Hat- field. A blockhouse was built above Northfield (just below Brattleboro, Vt.), which was soon after called Fort Dummer in honor of the newly-appointed acting governor, William Dummer, who took charge of the affairs of the province Dec. 27, 1722. Work was begun on the fort in December, 1723.
The fighting was mostly in the eastern part of the prov- ince, in Maine and New Hampshire, and it was hard to secure from the governor appropriations for military preparations in the western part, where a general alarm was also felt. Col- onel Partridge said in a letter written May 14, 1723 :-
"The river is pretty well secured by the forts and men at Northfield and Deerfield, yet Sunderland, Hatfield and Hadley, Northampton, Westfield, Brookfield and Rutland are too much exposed to invasion from the East and West. * * * These towns can't stand the strain upon them to watch and ward, scout and fort without pay while their spring work is pressing to be done, they can't get a living."
The Scatacooks took advantage of the war to again make attacks on the valley towns and the settlers experienced another period of guerrilla warfare. The woods were full of lurking foes ever ready to make a sudden onslaught.
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Northfield was attacked August 13, with the results as given in Dr. Hastings's account in the earlier part of the chapter.
Colonel Partridge sent the following report of the attack on Hatfield, June 18, 1724, to the governor :-
"HATFIELD June 20 1724
"Honorable Sr
"On the 18th Inst at 10 oclock in the forenoon the Enemy made an assault in Hatfield on some of our men at a mowing field about 3 miles from Town at Nehe Waits swamp lot where he with severall men & carts were loading hay. They killed Benj. Smith son of Joseph Smith & have taken Aaron Wells & Joseph Allis Captives as we judge because all the rest Escaped home & these two are not to be found, They also killed two oxen of one of our Temes & drew of, the men that was there judge there was 8 or 10 of the Enemy. We have sent immediately to Deerfd & Northfd & the fort above Deerfd immedeately sent out 20 men into the Western Woods & we from hence have sent out 17 men, from hence with provisions for ten days prsute of the sd Enemy or discovery of any pties of the Enemy. I presume this Enemy will take a Westward course clear out of the Reach of all or Upper forces So or unguarded Towns are in a evil case & although we have some men of or own in Northampton Hadley, Hatfield Sunderland & Westfield yet we have none 'but what have Occasions abroad in the Fields so that our towns all the day are so emptred of men that we are very much exposed & the Enemy seem to shape their course upon the lower Towns and our men abroad at their worke at a moments tyme may be shot down before anything can be seen who it is that doth it.
"In my letr by Capt Dwight of the 13th inst I proposed for some Reliefe & gave my Reasons I shall not need to ad expecting every hour yr Honors directions in the prmeses. I think we may say the Lord of Mercy upon us & doubt not yr care & consideration of our circumstances the seat of war seems to be here
"with my earnest desire & prayr for divine Guidance & support to yr Honor & the whole Corte I am yr
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