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 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
"This monument is erected in memory of Lt. David Billings, who ended a useful and exemplary life on the 27th of August A. D. 1807, aged 78 years.
198
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
The esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens was manifested in his repeated election to offices of honor and trust, but his death has closed the scene and vailed those virtues which were produced by that Holy Religion which he professed and practiced."
"Here lies the remains of Mrs Mabell Billings, relict of Lieut David Billings. She eminently possessed the gentler virtues of her sex in the exercise of which she endeared herself to her friends. The principals and precepts of Jesus governed her conduct and relying solely on the efficacy of the atonement which our Lord and Savior has made for sinners she fell asleep October 4, A. D. 1815, aged 71 years."
The Revolutionary war brought on the hardest times the colonists had ever known. The bills of credit issued by the Continental Congress became almost worthless and the state of Massachusetts refused to issue paper money in spite of popular clamor. By the Legal Tender Act, passed in 1782, live stock was made legal tender in payment of pri- vate debts. Taxes were higher than they had ever been before. Relations between debtors and creditors were the cause of costly suits and lawyers were bitterly hated. For the relief of debtors the Confession Act had been passed by the Massachusetts General Court whereby justices of the peace were authorized to take acknowledgment of debts and if they were not paid within a year to issue executions. Such was the universal discontent that a meeting was held at Hatfield on the first Tuesday in April, 1782, at which for several days various grievances were discussed and a committee was appointed to suggest changes to the General Court. It was the sense of the meeting that there should be no County Court of General Sessions and that the con- stables in towns should receive authority to serve writs, the same as deputy sheriffs. On a motion "to request the Inferior Court to forbear giving judgment in civil causes, except the condition make it appear that he is in danger of losing his debt, or when the parties are agreed," the dele- gates from the towns represented voted as follows: Yea- Granville, Norwich, Granby, Whately, Montague, Shel- burne, Charlemont, Greenwich, Conway, Westfield, Palmer, Pelham, Leverett, Ludlow, Ashfield; Nay-Springfield, Wil- braham, Deerfield, Monson, . Blandford, Northampton, Southampton, Hadley, Westhampton, Hatfield, Goshen, Cummington, Williamsburg, South Hadley, Amherst, Sun- derland, Shutesbury, Worthington, Chesterfield, Greenfield, Belchertown.
Though the delegates thus voted to uphold the process of
199
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
the law and wait for time to bring relief to the trying conditions, one reckless demagog incited a mob to disturb the holding of the Supreme Judicial Court and the Court of Common Pleas at Northampton, April 12. This man was Samuel Ely, an itinerant preacher, who had been sent away from Somers, Conn., by a council of ministers. For his connection with the riot at Northampton he was put in jail at Springfield and was rescued by a mob of sympa- thizers on June 12. The three men suspected as ring- leaders in the breaking open of the jail and the release of Ely, Capt. Abel Dinsmore of Conway, Lieut. Paul King of Northampton, and Lieut. Perez Bardwell of Deerfield, were confined in the jail at Northampton as hostages for the return of Ely. A mob of 600 collected at Hatfield on June 15 under Capt. Reuben Dickinson of Amherst for an attack on the Northampton jail. The militia to the num- ber of 1,200 were called out to protect the jail. Gen. Elihu Porter of Hadley, high sheriff, was in command. After several days of negotiations the hostages were released on their promise to produce Ely, and the mob dispersed.
Another convention was held at Hatfield, August 7-10. habeas corpus act in Hampshire County for six months and appointed a committee, Samuel Adams, Artemas Ward, and Nathaniel Gorham, speaker of the House, to proceed to Hampshire County to investigate the disturbances.
Another convention was held at Hatfield August 7-10. This convention under the guidance of the committee from the General Court declared its loyalty to the state and to Congress. The riotous acts of the mobs had not com- mended themselves to sober-minded citizens, though the grievances of which they complained were not righted. A set of resolutions adopted at the convention recommended relief from taxation by a more equal distribution, economy in administration, and indemnity for all those guilty of lawless acts except Samuel Ely.
Ely was given up to the authorities and taken to Boston. His reckless agitation had almost produced civil war in the county, and fighting between the insurgent forces, who were well armed and well led, and the local militia, was narrowly averted. Ely was thus characterized by Pres. Timothy Dwight :-
200
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
"Ely was an unlicensed and disorderly preacher and could not obtain an ordination. * * * He possessed the spirit, and so far as his slender abili- ties would permit, the arts of a demagogue to an unusual degree. He was voluble, vehement in address, bold, persevering, active, brazen faced in wickedness. *
* * The Association of New London County, some years before, when his character was very imperfectly known or suspected, licensed him to preach, and he was employed by the people of Somers, Ct. Afterward he was brought before a council and pronounced wholly unqualified to preach. He left Somers and drifted into Hampshire County, taking up his residence in Conway."
Many conventions were held in various towns in the county during the years 1782 and 1783. They served as safety valves for the expression of views which if checked might have proved the cause of acts of violence and an- archy. This period at the close of the war was a period of the same distress and agitation in most of the other colo- nies and has been called by that able historian, John Fiske, the Critical Period of American History.
At a convention in Hatfield, March 19 and 20, 1783, thirteen towns were represented. After a harmonious meeting it was voted to pay no taxes to the state and adjournment was taken to meet at Hadley the 15th of April. Jonathan Judd of Southampton recorded in his diary that at Hadley the delegates "felt feeble and fearful. They begin to know the County are not with them and they must try to pay Taxes." (Trumbull's "History of North- ampton.")
In 1784 a petition was brought before the General Court for a separation of Hampshire County on account of the difficulty of getting to the courts at Springfield and North- ampton from some of the more remote towns. The divi- sion was vigorously opposed by Hatfield. The matter was referred to the towns themselves for settlement and at a convention held at Hatfield in May, 1786, twenty-two towns voted against a division and nineteen in favor of it.
The discontent of the people in Massachusetts culminated in the uprising known as Shays's rebellion. A convention in Worcester, Aug. 15, 1786, at which representatives from 37 towns in Worcester County aired their grievances, was followed by a convention in Hatfield on August 22, at which 50 towns were represented. A three days' session was held in which the delegates, after declaring themselves a constitu- tional body, adopted a list of seventeen grievances. An issue of paper currency was called for at once and it was
201
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
voted that no funds should be granted to Congress. One of the chief effects of the gathering was to arouse the mob spirit to an attack on the courts. Rioting at the court- houses followed at Northampton, Great Barrington, Worces- ter, and Concord. Instigated by Daniel Shays of Pelham and Luke Day of West Springfield the discontented debtors went to the extreme of actual rebellion against the state authority and attempted to capture the federal arsenal at Springfield. The rebellion was not wholly crushed till Sep- tember, 1788. The chief result was to show the country the danger of anarchy unless there was a strong central authority and to hasten the adoption of the federal con- stitution.
At a convention held at the house of Samuel Dickinson in Hatfield, Jan. 2, 1787, an address was framed to send to the insurgents in the field to lay down their arms and seek redress through the General Court. The people of the town stood on the side of law and order and deplored the acts of Shays and his associates. One citizen of the town, Jacob Walker, a Revolutionary soldier, lost his life in an expedition sent to capture one of the rebel leaders, Capt. Jason Parmenter, at Bernardston. He was buried with military honors. The inscription on his headstone on the old burying ground on "the Hill" is :-
"To the memory of Mr. Jacob Walker who respected by the brave, beloved by his country's friends, dear to his relations, while manfully defending the laws of the commonwealth nobly fell by the impious hand of treason and rebellion upon the 17 day of February A. D. 1787 in the 32 year of his age.
"Citizen passing drop a tear And dare to imitate the brave."
CHAPTER XV.
LIFE IN HATFIELD AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
"Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their ways."
Political strife .- Description by President Dwight of Hatfield in 1797 .- Growth in population .- Highways as shown by old map .- Hon. John Hastings. -"Aunt Beck" and her diary .- Mary Morton Smith .- Schools for girls .- Manners and customs of the period .- Mode of travel to Boston .- Introduction of sleighs.
Hatfield was not long in recovering from the effects of the war. After the adoption of the federal constitution and the establishment of the coinage of the country on a firm basis, prosperity came again and business was resumed in a normal manner. Political discussions were rife for many years. Dr. Lyman was an ardent Federalist and many of his pulpit discourses were on political matters. In this he differed from many of his parishioners, who maintained views of local independence and were followers of Jefferson. The town was about equally divided between the Federalists and Anti- federalists.
The martial spirit aroused by the struggle for independence lingered. A large militia force was maintained and training days were frequent and always observed as holidays.
A most interesting picture of the conditions in the town in the year 1797 is given by Pres. Timothy Dwight in his "Travels in New England and New York." One of his letters contains this description :-
"Hatfield lies opposite the north end of Hadley at the distance of a mile and a half. It is built chiefly on two streets : the principal running North and South near a mile, the other about as far East and West. The houses are generally decent; and a number in a better style. Hatfield contains 9,000 acres, 2,000 of them, however, are in the bounds of Williamsburg; which, together with Whately, was formerly a parish of Hatfield; and all these were originally included within the bounds of Hadley. [This is not true of the whole of Williamsburg.] A part of this township is a pine plain; a part intervals of first quality ; and the remaining part valuable upland.
"The inhabitants have been for a long period conspicuous for uniformity of character. They have less intercourse with their neighbors than those of
203
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
most other places. An air of silence and retirement appears everywhere. Except travellers, few persons are seen abroad, besides those who are employed about their daily business. This seclusion renders them less agree- able to strangers; but certainly contributes to their prosperity. Accordingly, few farming towns are equally distinguished either for their property or their thrift. Men who devote themselves to their own concerns usually manage them well. The people of Hatfield are good farmers. Their fields are cultivated and their cattle fattened in a superior manner."
The first United States census was taken in 1790. Hat- field then contained 103 houses and 703 people, and in 1800, 123 houses and 809 people. A provincial census taken in 1776 showed a population of 582. For the census figures of other years, see Appendix, Note 9.
The growth under the newly-established government was thus steady, as it had been in colonial times, and apparently there was not much change in the character of the popula- tion, though the old restrictions against undesirable inhab- itants had fallen into disuse. One of Burgoyne's Hessian soldiers, Henry Wilkie, settled in town when the general and his army were marched across the country to Boston, and became the town maltster. There were a few Irish inhab- itants at this time, but they did not acquire property or remain in town long. While freedom to all religious sects, including Roman Catholics, was decreed by the state consti- tution adopted in 1780; the bitter struggles of the colonial wars were too fresh in the minds of men for them to entertain kindly feelings for any Catholics. Still the old Puritan intolerance was dying out and there is no evidence of any overt acts of hostility toward any prospective settlers of Hatfield.
In 1790 about 150 people were warned out of town. Under date of October 25 their names were placed upon the town records and the constables were directed to warn "the above enumerated persons resident in the town of Hatfield in the county of Hampshire who have lately come into this Town for the purpose of abiding therein, not having obtained the Town's consent, therefore, that they depart the limits forth- with, their children and others under their care within fifteen days." The state the year before had revived the old law regarding who should have the rights of citizenship in the towns, and Hatfield probably took this action in order to establish a precedent in case any newcomers were not de- sired. There is no evidence that the persons so warned were driven from town, but they probably complied with the
204
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
requirements of the law. The list of names contains those of many well-known families. This wholesale warning was the only one, with one exception, a man and his wife who had come from Milford receiving notice to leave Jan. 25, 1792.
The map of Hatfield in 1795 here presented was drawn to scale by Oliver Partridge from a survey by Ebenezer Fitch, who surveyed land in twenty towns in the vicinity from 1765 to 1825. The original, presented by Benjamin M.
66.
Said
Nº 1.0. 15 29.
15.4:4.40.
8: 15 -16.
.43.
1.4.26.
-
J. 74. 61.
.03.0.12. -
-
2.43 .-
re: M. S.A.
MAP OF HATFIELD IN 1795.
Warner, is in the Dickinson Memorial Hall. This map shows all the roads that were then county highways. It will be seen that there was at that time no county highway through the North Meadow to "the Farms" and that the Pantry road was not then built. Ebenezer Clapp built before 1836 the house now occupied by Peter Saffer, and he was instrumental in having the Pantry road accepted by the town. His daughter married Oliver Graves of Whately, who built
34
06:0.26-
22.
"73.
205
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
the house occupied by George Bitner. Thomas Frary was another early resident in the west part of the town. He built the old house that stood till after 1900 north of the residence of J. S. Newman. The map shows that in 1795 a part of the town of Williamsburg was included in the Hat- field boundaries. The line is now along Horse mountain. The residents of Mountain Street and Haydenville voted and were taxed in Hatfield till after 1800. The Baker's Ferry road appears on the map as the highway to Hadley, and the ferry at the north of the street is indicated.
The leading man of the town during the closing years of the eighteenth century was Hon. John Hastings. He had been an ardent patriot during the struggle against Great Britain and, as already noted, was the first representative to the provincial congress of Massachusetts. He continued to represent the town in the state legislature almost continu- ously till 1807 and was also chairman of the board of select- men during most of the time, acting as moderator in town meeting whenever he was present. There is in the town records an expression of the confidence of his townspeople in his ability and public spirit. At the time the state consti- tution was under discussion, Hatfield voted instructions for their representative to be guided by in regard to some points the people felt should receive particular attention in the constitution. They laid special stress on a bill of rights and popular election of the governor and legislators and ex- pressed their entire confidence in the judgment of their representative, John Hastings. Squire Hastings was a gen- tleman of the old school, punctilious in dress and manner, discreet in utterance, dignified in bearing. He was the last wearer of a cocked hat in Hatfield.
An interesting character was Miss Rebecca Dickinson or, as she was familiarly called, "Aunt Beck," a seamstress. As she traveled from house to house about her work, she ac- quired a fund of information concerning her neighbors that was unequaled by any other person. A gift of making pithy, epigrammatic remarks caused her to be regarded as some- thing of an oracle. In a diary she kept from 1787 to 1802 are recorded notes of events that came under her observa- tion, mingled with comments of her own on a wide range of subjects, a few extracts from which are here given. The diary is in the possession of Mrs. Mary A. B. Dickinson.
206
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
The earlier part, referring to Revolutionary times, "Aunt Beck" herself destroyed. Her notes begin with July 22, 1787.
"-thunder never terrifies me-how many would fly away from this house alone-God knows his saints and guards the place where they dwell.
"July 25, 1787, makes me forty-nine years of age-there is malis Enuff round me to have taken it from me.
"This is the 12 of August a Satterday morning yesterday was att brother bilings there was mr Carson-Patte Church who boards there in the evening came home to this house alone. I lited no candel for the Darkness of my mind was far beyond the Darkest Dunjon there was no hope for me in the things of time jesse billings was there which Put those bad thoughts into my mind." [After lamenting the fact that no one desires her company and that she has outlived all her connections, she concludes the day's meditations by saying,] "the more need of sending all my hopes to the heavenly world. I do wonder at myself that I should be so earthly-minded and look after the things of the world as though I should be the better for any of them or think those any more happy who have them."
[On Sunday, Aug. 13, she reflects upon her lonesomeness and says that] "God only knows there is no person in the world who loves Company more than me" [and fearing that she will be sick in bed within a week] "no one to do the least kind offis for me-it is God's will."
[August 20, she spent part of the night wondering] "how it come about that others and all the world was in Possession of Children and friends and a hous and homes while I was so od as to sit here alone."
[On August 25 she tells of a wedding reception for Oliver Hastings and his bride.] "No doubt there was forty Couple who was invited in, some singel, some marryed Peopel a very fine Collection all brought out to give them joy in their begining. I drinked tea with brother and sister billing .- with a great many fine Peopel who was a crouding in the ladies with there Silks the men the happiest who Could get the neerest to them."
"this is the 2 Day of September 1787 yesterday was at Sister Billings with mrs wells and mrs jud of South Hadley there was two ladies Salle Hubbard and Betsie Chappill, my couzon who Drinked tea with us in the evening Come to this house about half after seven and found it dark and lonesome here j walked the rooms and cryed myself Sick and found my heart very stubborn against the government of God who has set me here for to try my fidelity to my lord who knows the best way"
"this is monday the 4 of September 1787 this Day is beautiful like the month it is this Day have been preparing for to be sick it is near the Season when the Collick used to visit me."
"This holy Sabbath is 22 of September this day Sister Mather is here with her two children and is very soon to goe to her own home. This day there Preached here one mr jud of Ware he was Dismised about three years agow was Settled or instaled at ware about too years agow he gave us two good Sermons on the Sad Efects of Sin from those words of Ezekel j have Purged thee and thee are Purged-the Day was warm like Summer my Collick has began this Day I feel Sick but have great Cause of thankfulness that my health has been given me so long."
[Some time later "Aunt Beck" had a call from] "Patte Graves of Pitts- field who began the world with me we went together to learn the trade of goun making which has been of unspeakable adventage to me but of no Servis to her She married a man seven and thirty years older than her Self has Six Children living"
"there is sick at the hous of Zack field nathaniel day of Northampton who was taken Sick on thursday last and-is supposed to be this day a going the way of all the earth."
[The next day came the news of his death, which caused her to say,] "may not Satan gain no adventage over me"
[One day on a call to Sister Billings she found acquaintances of earlier days and] "quit that company because j found my Company to be a burden."
·
207
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
[On Sept. 29 she went to the minister's house and there] "see an old acquaintance-was in Company with him ten years agoe he has sense very well married" [She was overcome to have him ask her if her name was changed and went home once more to meditate, rebel at her fate, and finally repent of her willfulness.]
[The entry of Oct. 5 tells of a visit to Whately with Sister Billings, in which they called on several acquaintances, lastly at] "Captain White's staid there to refresh ourSelves Set out for home about the going down of the Sun. Arrived at Sister bilings about Dusk. there found the woman who I doe not love nor can j like"
"About the 14 of October there was gathered at north-Conel murry's regiment, about seven hundred men, brother bilings was Captain from this town Captin Chapin from Whately they made a grand appeerence as they lined up there was at there head general Chapin of this town general Shepard of Westfield major allis Conel lymen of northampton it was a beau- tifull day for october the bois all went from this town"
[On the 26th of October her mother came home after an absence of some months and they set up housekeeping] "one time more how we are to live j cant see"
[She writes on Nov. 15 of going to visit an old friend, Mrs. Trowbridge, where she took a sudden cold which] "has confined me for a week with a most distressing Collick j thought my life to be a going-the day of my illness sent for doctor wiliams who opened a vein which has given me ease it was like a Pleurisy in the Distress and gained ease the same way as tho it was the same disorder how sad to be sick no one to doe the least kind offis my mother seventy-nine years of age not able to take the care of herself in a puzzling fit broke my specticles a great loss to me for they suted me so well that a-should not have brought them out of my hand."
[In 1789 she says,] "this is a most Distressing time with the inhabitence of these towns the want of bread and the want of money to gain that same article how far God is to try the inhabitence of this land by famine god only knows j have never in fifty years heerd so great a cry for bread it looks dark on the Peopel it is cold like winter there is no hope of the grain how every one should be Crying to god to Power out his spirit upon this Peopel
"this is may a Sunday after meeting about the 30 of may the last week a bridge was raised in this town there is alwais Danger when briges are raised my soul cryed to god for presevation the lord heard my poor request and Preserved this Peopel Except my brother who was saved from death when he fell twenty feet he put out three bones in his hand but god in a wonderful manner preserved his life and my soul hopes it may be for his benifit and the good of others."
"-Day Ends my book the 8 day of August 1802 Days are prolonged i have begun my Sixty fifth year little did i think to see this time which i now behold never did the goodness of god appeare more and brighter."
Another of the women of the period worthy of note was Mary Morton Smith, wife of Lieut. Samuel Smith. At her death in 1807 she left a reputation for energy, thrift, and piety that had seldom been equaled. Her husband died in 1767, leaving her with a family of six boys, and she was appointed their guardian and brought up the family. The oldest boy, Samuel, was only fifteen and the youngest, Oliver, the founder of the Smith Charities and Smith's Agricultural School, only a year and a half. They all became worthy citizens. Samuel and two others, Benjamin and Elijah, served in the Revolution. The other sons were Rufus and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.