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 2
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
details of the dispute which deeply stirred the whole colony of Connecticut and was the cause of many ecclesiastical councils. The chief point of contention was the so-called "Half-way Covenant," by which children of parents not members of the church could be baptized. Other issues concerned church membership and the rights of the brother- hood. (See Appendix, Note 2.)
At this day people can with difficulty appreciate the tremendous conflict which the issues seemed to involve. While a democracy has been evolved from the institutions established by the New England pioneers, it must be remem- bered that their first form of government was a theocracy or church state in which control was in the hands of the relatively small number of church members.
A crisis was reached in 1658 in the Connecticut towns and preparations were begun for another migration. The fertility of the valley of the Connecticut was by that time well known. Men were sent to view the lands to the east and north of Northampton and application was made to the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony for a grant of land. This was readily obtained and in 1659 an agreement was made to settle above Northampton on both sides of the river at a place known as Norwottuck, or Nonotuck, meaning "in the midst of the river." The grant by the Massachusetts authorities was made conditional upon an orderly hearing of the differences between the Withdrawers, as they were called, and their brethren from Hartford. Accordingly a council was summoned, a recon- ciliation was effected, and those who were to journey forth again to new homes, many of them for the third time, took their way in peace.
The General Court of Connecticut in appointing a day of thanksgiving in November, 1659, gave as one of the reasons for thanks "the success of the endeavors of the reverend elders of the last council, for composing the sad differences of Hartford."
The prospect of receiving these Massachusetts men back into the Bay Colony was pleasing to the General Court and to the inhabitants of the other valley towns. They were men of ability and in comfortable circumstances, if not of great wealth, of good social standing, law abiding and firm
22
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
in religious faith. Many of them were already well acquainted with the Springfield and Northampton settlers.
Negotiations were entered into with Northampton for the Capawonk meadows belonging to that town and in October, 1658, Northampton voted to "give away" Capa- wonk on four conditions: that the Hartford men were to settle two plantations, one on each side of the river; to maintain a sufficient fence against hogs and cattle; to pay £10 in wheat and peas; and to inhabit by the follow- ing May. This offer was not taken up then, though the land was subsequently purchased and became a part of
Hatfield. An agreement or engagement of those who intended to remove from Connecticut to Massachusetts is dated at Hartford, April 18, 1659, concerning which Judd tells at length in his "History of Hadley."
The records of the doings of the early settlers are meager in regard to many important details and it is hard to fix upon exact dates. Judd says of the settlement of Hadley: "It may be presumed that the broad street and homelots were laid out in 1659; that a number of the Engagers came up to inhabit at the said plantation, in 1659, and built rude dwellings, where they lived during the next winter. Who, or how many, passed the winter there, cannot be known. The seven men, chosen Nov. 9. 1659, 'to order all public occasions,' and called Townsmen. were at the new plantation and made a rate, Nov. 22. 1659, and they, or a majority of them, probably wintered there with others. One of these Townsmen, Thomas Stanley, made his will, Jan. 29, 1659-60, in which he dis- posed of his house and land, 'that are here at the new plantation,' proving conclusively that he then lived in the new town." The date of the will is given in old style reckoning, which was used by the first settlers. The error in computing the length of the solar year in the so-called Julian calendar was corrected by Pope Gregory in 1582, but the new style of reckoning was not adopted in England or her colonies till 1752. In the old style reckoning March 25 was the beginning of the year. After the adoption of the new style, or Gregorian calendar, January 1 was taken as the beginning of the year and double dates are often used to indicate the time between Jan. 1
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
and Mar. 25. There was an error of 11 days in the reckon- ing, which must be added to any date given in the old style to change it to the new.
At a meeting held in the house of Andrew Warner in Hadley, Oct. 8, 1660, the following provisions were made: that no person should be owned as an inhabitant or have liberty to vote or act in town affairs until he should be legally received as an inhabitant; that the in- habitants on the west side of the river should be one with those on the east side in both ecclesiastical and civil mat- ters which were "common to the whole," they paying all charges from their engagement and all purchase charges from the beginning; that those admitted for inhabitants on the west side should be inhabiting there in houses of their own by the next Michaelmas, Sept. 29, 1661; and that they should sign an engagement by themselves or others for them. There were twenty-eight persons who signed the votes and agreements at this meeting, perhaps all who had up to that time signified an intention of becoming settlers of the new town and including, very likely, some who had not brought up their families from Connecticut.
The name Hadley, or Hadleigh, was chosen from the Hadleigh in Suffolk County, England. The church of Hadley probably dates from the establishment of the town, as there is no record of a reorganization, and those who removed from Wethersfield comprised the pastor, Rev. John Russell, and the majority of his church, though not of his congregation or of the town.
Some of those who intended to settle on the west side of the Connecticut signed an engagement at this October meeting, or their friends for them, others in January, February, and March of the next year. By Mar. 25, 1661, twenty-five heads of families had engaged to settle on the Hatfield side: Aaron Cook, Thomas Meekins, William Allis, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr., John Coleman, Isaac Graves (with his father, Thomas Graves), John Graves, Samuel Belding, Stephen Taylor, John White, Jr .. Daniel Warner, Richard Fellows, Richard Billings, Edward Benton, Mr. Ritchell (with his son), Ozias Good- win, Zechariah Field, Lieut. Thomas Bull, Gregory Wilter-
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
ton, Nathaniel Porter, Daniel White, William Pitkin, John Cole, Samuel Church, Samuel Dickinson.
Of these prospective settlers Cook and Church did not move across the river; Goodwin, Bull, Wilterton, and Pit- kin remained at Hartford; Mr. Ritchell and Edward Benton at Wethersfield; and Nathaniel Porter at Windsor; leaving sixteen who became residents of Hatfield. Two of these, Thomas Meekins and William Allis, belonged to the Bay Colony and lived at Braintree. Of the others ten came from Hartford: Billings, Cole, Fellows, Field, John and Isaac Graves, Taylor, Warner, John White, Jr., and Daniel White; four were from Wethersfield: Belding, Coleman, and the Dickinsons.
What the proposed boundaries of the new plantation were to be may be seen by the report of the committee to the General Court, Sept. 30, 1659. The report was not accepted by the magistrates and Hadley never extended its boundaries as far as expected. It ran as follows :-
"In obedience to an order of the much Honored General Court in May last, appointing us whose names are subscribed, to lay out the bounds of the new plantation at Norwottuck on the river Connecticutt for the supply of those people that are to settle there; considering what people are to remove thither and the quality of the lands thereabouts, we have thought good to lay out their bounds on both sides of said River, viz. on the East side of said river their southerly bounds to be from the head of the falls above Springfield and so to run east and by north the length of nine miles from the said river ; And their Northerly bounds to be a little brook called by the Indians Nepasoaneage up to a mountain called Quunkwattchu, and so running eastward from the river the same length of nine miles; from their southerly bounds to the northerly bounds on the east side of the river is about 11 or 12 miles, And on the west side of the river their bounds on the south are to join or meet with Northampton bounds, (which said bounds are called Capawonk and Wequittayyagg) And on the north their bounds to be a great mountain, called Wequomps; and the North and South bounds are to run west two miles from the great river; And from North to South on that side the river is about 6 or 7 miles.
Signed by
JOHN PYNCHON ELIZUR HOLYOKE SAMUEL CHAPIN WILLIAM HOLTON RICHARD LYMAN."
The mountain called Quunkwattchu was Toby; We- quomps was Mt. Sugar Loaf. The northern bounds of Northampton were about the same as at present.
During the years 1659 and 1660 no allotments of land were made, but the settlers cultivated parts of the common land temporarily assigned them for use. It was uncertain
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
how many of the Engagers would really settle in the new town. Many were discouraged at the difficulties encoun- tered in fixing the boundaries of the township and in securing a sufficient amount of meadow land. Negotiations were being made for the purchase of lands from the Indians with the assistance of Maj. John Pynchon and other Spring- field men, but grants by the General Court to individuals of parts of the same territory complicated the matter.
For the first forty years of its history the colonial gov- ernment was accustomed to give large grants of land to individuals of rank, either in payment for services to the colony, or in grateful acknowledgment, or both, or in the settlement of claims. Such grants were for the most part made arbitrarily, with little regard to township lines, and sometimes the grantee was allowed to choose his own location; usually in a town grant a clause was inserted, "reserving properties formerly granted to any person."
In 1659, the same year that a grant was made to the Connecticut Engagers for their proposed town, a grant of 500 acres was made by the Massachusetts Bay Colony to Simon Bradstreet, a Magistrate and later governor of the colony, and one of 500 acres to Maj. Gen. Daniel Denison with the liberty to locate anywhere west of the Connecticut river full six miles from the place intended for the North- ampton meeting-house in a straight line. Mr. Bradstreet, who had the first choice, took his grant in Hatfield North Meadow, extending one mile west from the river. Maj. Gen. Denison took his part just north of the division of the meadows known from earliest times as Bashan, extending 250 rods from the river and one mile north and south. Thus these two proprietors had some of the best interval or meadow land in the new township and on the ground that they were not six miles from the Northampton meeting- house the Engagers petitioned, but without avail, to have the location of the grants changed. The struggle went on for five years and finally the town of Hadley in justice to the west side settlers was obliged to purchase of Mr. Bradstreet the North Meadows. His terms were £200 and 1000 acres of land elsewhere. The money was paid by the town and the General Court granted him the land, which he took just north of the Denison farm one mile and a half
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Die it Known unto all min by fif profints y Umpanchala
altas WOMstom a Bachem of notworry ing one parte, being & (hinte) proper Owner of land on & west mor of Quinectiof River from aypow oungonuch toy upper side of mintomonk bir + Quanguont ground ) Des give grant Bargame & Jill by John Pynchon of Springfield of L'office partie to firm fin Abugruss e ducation for love, Ally Grounds, woods !! waters, Triu Stones, meadows, stands the Pycing e Bring at notworking on west side of Recenitincoff giver from & meados on y South call it Cupour formurl' Solo by Umpanchina to Inhabitants of Northampton) upon great River of Questichicoff Northwood for uppersion of mincomune y is to say & Brooke or Qwerty calle (appowong alias matricolanick. gachslappoworganick . wequitayyages meadow@upload cate cequefay JeJeSo North ward to Velunchhomuckenatocou es Brooke called bunchcomply wel comes out of y Pond Over youBa nattallows or Wonchcomps , the Northward viz all the ground et To calle minicornmuch to a marka Walnut Ties of y great Rive side for of from y River to a great white Oak mario e themes to kura. into y Woodis Westward from y great River time miles efor down Southup till it come to Cappoworry Riverat what to Northampton Bounds The aforis toast of ground called cequitayyag younckhommuch wondkcompu, naftacows, mincomuch e from Quernectico Awin to run Westward time miles into y woods Bethat y Southwar Bo us along & Diverse cappowoning as well as & Northward Bounds of RT umpanchala dim Workscours ny Im partis for gon forfora of' Sum of three Hundred fathom of Wargam in Rando Bulous Buts Other forall gifts And for Other good faites & Configurations Dos Sell gin grant And have Sold juin e grants to John Pynchon of Saving field aforis any Other partir, And to his Alsignes e Juusfor for Save to them harry, All ner Singulus & aforce named land, Os by what York Other names it is or may be call it, Queste ba profs if have enjoy & afords Track of Ground free from all molestation of fruumbani of any Indians es for love; Only & D Umpanchala hoth ts ferve & Chickons altar Coffmy alles watis to say this planting Ground tograther with fibertie to Hunt Forver or Otile Wild Creatures to Jake fish & tisch Wigwams on y Coman, estable word ) trees for ufe Butt Otherwife all i Premifiss And y whats Trest of land Byfors mentioned w all' Appurtenaneus Primleague Perest, The John Pynchon his thingnes and Bunafiol ethur Reich, shell for Ever enjoy
y ABalutilis fearsfie fru from all indistation by any Indians; And farther Unpanchala Dotengan Covenant And it is y intent female Perfents, y all indian forone fields of old plants Ground afour WEareEtayyage shall Come to y English affiches Breath And y & Indians Whowe evropy, Only & Old planted Ground in WEquetaydage and Down try Brook Cappojoongsiate alias ma- Hdolanich In wany haruf y ? umpinchalas hish set to his Band and marke this tenth Day of July 1660
Bufferind in & Preferes off John Aufs für Andrew Baseny Richard Church Richard Mountaque
UmjanePala 8
The mask of Etewong Bre
The marks of Woofsomehus
& vempanehis ownsong
alsos Skyjack an Ino Witness
eu a Witness to it. ~
AN OLD INDIAN DEED.
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
north and south on the river and including a large part of the meadow land now in the limits of the township of Whately. His west line was a little west of the present Straits road and his north one the upper side of the wood lot north of the S. W. Allis farm; the south line of the Denison grant was along the bank of the swamp below the village of Bradstreet. Both these grants were within what were supposed to be the limits of the new township of Hadley. The farms were later bought by a company of proprietors made up in Hatfield and division was made to private owners. Samuel Symonds and Gen. Humphrey Atherton, who also received grants at Norwottuck, took their land elsewhere to accommodate the new town.
The early settlers took pains to secure valid title to their lands by purchase from the Indians. These purchases were not costly, payments being made in clothing, trinkets, and wampum, the currency of the Indians, at that time legal tender for debts to the value of 40 shillings. The deeds are now on record at the Hall of Records in Spring- field. The first purchase from the Indians was made Dec. 25, 1658, and comprised the territory east of the Connecti- cut from the mouth of Fort river and Mt. Holyoke on the south to the mouth of the Mohawk brook and Mt. Toby on the north, a distance of about nine miles, and running east nine miles into the woods. The price paid was 220 fathoms of wampum and one large coat, equal in value to £62, 10s. The deed was signed by the Norwottuck sachems Umpanchala, Chickwallop, and Quonquont, who claimed ownership on both sides of the river and had forts and planting grounds at intervals.
The land for the town of Hatfield was secured in three purchases. The first, made July 10, 1660, comprised the land west of the Connecticut between the Capawonk brook, now Mill river, on the south, "to the brook called Wunck- compas which comes out of the Great Pond," following the line of the brook and extending west into the woods for nine miles. The price paid was 300 fathoms of wampum and small gifts, equal in all to £75 in value. The deed was signed by the sachem Umpanchala and approved by his brother Etowonq. They reserved for their use the "Chick- ons or planting Field"-now Indian Field- and liberty to
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
hunt and fish, to set wigwams on the common and to cut trees for use.
The next purchase was the meadow called Capawonk, south of the brook of that name. This meadow had been bought by Northampton of the chief Chickwallop in 1657, for 50 shillings. It was deeded by the Northampton settlers, Jan. 22, 1663, for £30. These two purchases included all the land claimed by Hatfield at the time of its incorporation in 1670. The third was the tract of land north of the North Meadow, including Bradstreet and most of the township of Whately, from the heirs of Quonquont. The deed was signed Oct. 19, 1672, by the sachem's widow Sarah Quanquan, or Quonquont, his son Pocuno- house, his daughter Majessit and two others, Mattatabange, a squaw, and Momecuse. The price paid was fifty fathoms of wampum valued at five shillings to the fathom. The northern boundary was where the Pocumtuck path crossed the Weekioanuck brook, the line running east to the "great river" and west for six miles.
Upon these deeds from the Indians rest the titles of all later possessors and the reservations made by the red men of the hunting and fishing privileges, the use of wood and timber, and the liberty to pitch wigwams are in oper- ation at the present day if their descendants should wish to take advantage of them.
CHAPTER II.
A CHAPTER OF PREPARATION. THE PIONEERS.
" They were men of present valor, stalwart old iconoclasts."
The journey from Connecticut .- The first inhabitants and their families .- Topography of the township in 1660 .- Changes caused by action of the Connecticut river .- Work of the pioneers in preparation for settlement .- Annual burning of the land by the Indians .- Scarcity of timber .- Intervals or meadows .- Domestic animals.
In spite of the many difficulties in the way, the Engagers kept coming in greater numbers and some others joined with them in the attempt to settle the northernmost valley towns. The journey from Connecticut was a difficult one, as the cart roads were not built at that time and all streams had to be forded. The route was up the valley to West- field, then called Woronoke, to Springfield and Northamp- ton. The tradition is that ten days were needed to accomplish the trip.
The Hadley street on the east side of the river was laid out in 1661 and house lots assigned. It is probable that several families established themselves on the Hatfield side as early as 1660 and passed the winter there, for, at a meeting held in Hadley in January, 1661, "It was voted and agreed upon that all those that have taken up allotments on the west side of the river put into the Rate that is to be made for this year and shall pay all charges for this present year as we ourselves on this side of the river doe." Others kept adding themselves to the first comers till by the year 1668 most of the original Engagers had taken up their lands and the west side settlement numbered about 100 souls. It is very difficult to determine accurately when the different settlers established themselves in their new homes. Richard Fellows was probably the first to locate on the west side of the river. He built a house at what seemed to him a desirable location and the Hatfield street was later laid out from his house northward. John Cole is also often mentioned as being one of the pioneers,
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
but this is doubtful because the Hadley records indicate renewals of his grant of a house lot, showing that he did not fully keep the terms of his engagement and reside with his family on his grant. He may have returned to Con- necticut in 1660. His home lot was the one next north of Fellows's. There were probably at least four others resid- ing on the west side of the river in 1660, Zechariah Field, Richard Billings, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr., and John White, Jr
Richard Fellows was in Hartford in 1643. He removed to Springfield in 1659 and from there to Northampton. He had a family of five children when he located in the new settlement that became the town of Hatfield,-Richard, Samuel, Sarah, John, who was baptized Nov. 1, 1646, and Mary, baptized Feb. 9, 1650, the oldest probably nearing manhood. He died soon after and his widow, Ursula Fellows, took his place in the distribution of land. Widow Fellows is mentioned in the Hadley records Dec. 19, 1661. His homestead, as stated, was at the southern end of the street as originally laid out, though the place is now south of the end of Main Street. The house on the Fellows allot- ment is now occupied by Mrs. Samuel Fellows Billings and her family. They are not descendants of Richard Fellows, but the name was given to Samuel Fellows Billings because of the fact that he was born on the spot where Fellows built, according to tradition, the first house in town.
Zechariah Field was also living in Northampton at the time of the settlement of Hadley. He chose for a building site the one at the corner of Main and Maple streets. As the three men first mentioned selected their homesteads close together near the fertile meadows it is probable that they and the other three had familiarized themselves with the proposed location of the new village before any other settlers took up residence and it was their prospecting that determined the location of the west side street and its house lots. The other three pioneers chose sites adjoining on the opposite side of the street a little farther north, the third, fourth, and fifth house lots as laid out in 1661. It is not certain whether these six pioneers moved their families and possessions at first to their new homes. The change of residence seems to have been accomplished
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
gradually during a period of several years, for the records of the Connecticut towns show that the men who moved to the Massachusetts towns at least had real estate holdings after their departure for the settlements farther up the river.
John Cole was a resident in Farmington in 1652, later moving to Hartford. The name was also spelled Coule and later became Cowls and Cowles. The date of his birth is not known, but there is a record of his death in Hatfield in September, 1675. He was made a freeman in 1666. His family at the time he settled in Hatfield consisted of his wife and seven children, the eldest probably about 19 years old, John, Hannah, Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, Samuel, and Esther. Little has been discovered concerning him pre- vious to his coming to Hatfield. The Cowles homestead remained in the hands of direct descendants till 1898 when the property was sold by Rufus H. Cowles to Patrick T. Boyle.
Concerning Zechariah Field much information has been preserved in the Field genealogy compiled by Frederick Clifton Pierce of Chicago. He was a man of over three- score years at the time he settled in Hatfield, having been born in East Ardsley, Yorkshire, Eng., in 1596, the son of John Field and the grandson of John Field, the English astronomer. He probably came to New England through Wales, sailed from Bristol, arrived in Boston in 1629 and settled in Dorchester. At the time he removed to Con- necticut he was in the prime of life and was one of the 42 men furnished by Hartford to take part in the Pequot war. His house in Hartford was upon Sentinel Hill near the present north end of Main Street. He was prosperous and the owner of a large amount of land, upon part of which is Asylum Street. The land records of Hartford contain a number of transfers made by or to him from 1639- 62. He removed to Northampton in 1659 and engaged in business, trading extensively with the Indians. He was one of the twenty-five west side Engagers and was one of the committee to lay out the street and house lots. He also had to renew the terms of his engagement. His allot- ment was on the west side of the street at the corner of the highway leading to Northampton. A house on the lot
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