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 22
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"His influence was deeply felt outside of his professional work. Men respected and valued him as a loyal citizen, doing what he could by word and deed to improve the social conditions of the community. Every move- ment for public betterment found in him an efficient helper. In town meetings, in the election of officials of the town, state or nation, in the conditions of the schools, of the roads, the water supply and every civic matter which affected the condition of the people, he was actively interested ; , and while men sometimes differed from him in opinion, they never doubted his sincerity or his personal integrity and uprightness. There was no trace of hypocrisy or double dealing about him. His course was straightforward on public questions and actuated ever by righteous and praiseworthy motives.
"His public spirit was recognized by his election as one of the presidential electors in the campaign of 1904. The breadth of his sympathy and the extent of his influence may be seen somewhat in the important offices which he was called to fill. He was a trustee of Smith College, an overseer of the charitable fund of Amherst College, a trustee and treasurer of Smith Acad- emy, a trustee of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital at Northampton, and a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In all these positions he won the respect and esteem of his associates by his practical sagacity and his unselfish efforts to advance the interests of the corporations which he served. His Alma Mater, Amherst College, gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, as a deserved recognition of his scholarship and his ministerial influence."
PART II. REMINISCENCES AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL D. PARTRIDGE.
REMINISCENCES AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
I .- REMINISCENCES OF SAMUEL D. PARTRIDGE.
1
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. These sketches of Hatfield in the early part of the nineteenth century, with their interesting side lights on manners and customs, were written in 1880 by Samuel D. Partridge, or rather by his wife at his dicta- tion, for he had then become blind. Few men have been better qualified for writing such a description. As a young man Mr. Partridge was elected to the office of town clerk and during the year he held office he copied the records of the first one hundred years, a work of great value to many who have had occasion to consult the old records for historical or genealogical information. His interest in his native town was continued till his death, though much of his active business life was passed in New York, and he delighted in spending his vacations among the scenes of his boyhood. Both Mr. and Mrs. Partridge died in Wisconsin, but are buried in Hatfield.
It has long been a matter of regret with me, that I did not in my earlier days improve the opportunities which I had of obtaining information relative to my native town from those who were my predecessors by two generations. This reflection has had some influence in prompting me to write down what I remember of Hatfield as it was soon after the commencement of the present century. The popu- lation was then, according to my recollection, a little more than eight hundred, and these, with two exceptions, were descendants of the first settlers in Hadley and Hatfield. The exceptions were Henry Wilkie, who was made prisoner at the defeat of Burgoyne's army, and chose to remain rather
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than return to Germany; the other was Michael Kelly, an Irishman, who lived on the Northampton road near the line, and remained but a few years when he removed to New York. There were two colored families living on the Northampton road, and three more living near the junction of the Williamsburg and Deerfield roads.,
Very few new highways for travel have been opened since those days. A county road through the North Meadow to West Farms and the Pantry road leading from Northamp- ton to Whately are all that have been made since my memory.
The boundaries of the town are unchanged except that when Williamsburg was set off, the line between the two towns was fixed with a proviso that certain farms lying west of the line should still remain a part of Hatfield, and the dwellers on those farms for a long series of years voted and were taxed in Hatfield, but, some thirty or forty years ago, they were annexed by an act of Legislature to the town of Williamsburg. A considerable portion of Haydenville was situated on one of these farms.
In my earliest recollections I can recall but one school- house, and that a brick structure of about eighteen by sixteen feet, of one story and a gambrel roof, having two windows on the east side and one on the west side. These with one window on the south end lighted an upper room. The lower room had two windows on the east side, two at the south end, and one on the west side. The ceilings in each room, especially in the upper room, were very low. The building stood in the middle of the street about east from Deacon Partridge's house, the same now occupied by Otis Wells. In the winter a school for boys was kept in each of these rooms, the larger boys going into the upper room, which was entered by a staircase on the outside on the north end of the building. I do not think that at this period the town provided any instruction for girls, and all the boys in town who attended school in the winter were taught in these two rooms. I remember them as coming from "the Hill" and from "West Farms." One from West Farms is fixed in my memory, for, when reading in the "English Reader" how "Genius darted like an eagle up the mountain," he read, he "darted like a pickerel up the moun-
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tain." The lower room was sufficiently uncomfortable, but the upper was so dark, so low and gloomy, that it is difficult to conceive how it could ever have been devoted to educational purposes; and yet a goodly number of men who have made intelligent and respectable citizens received no other schooling than this house afforded. Wood for the use of the schools was brought at sled length. It was chopped and split by the larger boys and carried in by the smaller boys. The fires in the morning were made by the scholars in turn, though sometimes the job was taken by some one boy for the ashes. Prayers were offered morning and evening, or dispensed with, at the option of the master. The first school exercise was always reading in the Bible by the oldest class.
There was a girls' school kept in the house belonging to Oliver Smith, which stood near the site of the house belong- ing to the late Mrs. Joseph Smith. (I suppose this was a private school.) In 1813 it was taught by a Miss Childs. I recollect she had an "exhibition" in the meetinghouse, when one of Hannah More's sacred dramas was enacted, Miss Almira Smith (afterward Mrs. S. F. Lyman of North- ampton ) having the part of Pharaoh's daughter, and the baby, Moses, found by her in the bulrushes was George C. Partridge. A Mr. Barstow kept a girls' school in the same place, but I am unable to tell whether a little before, or a little after, Miss Childs, as I only remember him by an affray between some Democrats and Federalists which occurred in the bell tower of the meetinghouse, and in which Mr. Barstow participated.
Party spirit ran very high in those days, worse than l have ever known it at any subsequent time; but this is the only occasion in which I remember a resort to blows. For many years it was a disturber of social life,-men, women, and children felt its evil influence. The Federalists would have their Thanksgiving ball in one place, while the Demo- crats had theirs in another: and even between near rela- tives of different party affiliations there was very little friendly intercourse.
The town meetings-always opened by the minister by prayer-were held in the meetinghouse, one party taking the north side of the center aisle, the other the south. The
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contest was generally on the choice of a moderator, it being well understood that the party carrying that office would carry all others.
The want of school privileges was in some degree supple- mented by the establishment of a "social library" about the year 1806 and even here the bitterness of party spirit was apparent, the original members being all Federalists.
There was but one religious society, all parochial rights being vested in the town. The church organization was then just as it is now, but the legal voters of the town constituted the parish. Rev. Dr. Lyman, who was settled in 1772, was the minister when I was born, and continued so until I was grown to man's estate. His salary, if I recollect right, was £80, together with his fuel, and the use of the parish lands. This money was raised by a town tax, and collected just like any other tax. There was a law of the state requiring every man to attend divine service once in three months, though I never heard of its enforcement; but I recollect to have heard of one person who was said to go just enough to keep clear of the law.
The meetinghouse stood in the middle of the street, perhaps twenty-five rods north of the brick schoolhouse. The pulpit was on the west side, and over it was a sounding board. It was entered by a staircase on the south side, and at the right of the staircase, in front of the pulpit, was the "Deacons' seat" and the communion table, while the galleries extended around the three other sides. There were two staircases leading to the galleries, one on the southeast, and the other on the northwest corners of the house, and over each of the staircases was a large square pew elevated above the others, and called the "high pews." The house below was divided into square pews by what was called the "broad aisle," running east and west through the middle of the building with two narrow aisles, one at the north and one at the south of it. In addition to these there was one on each of the four sides of the house at the distance of the breadth of one pew from the walls, con- necting with the doors and with the stairs leading to the pulpit and the galleries. The building was entered by three doors, one on each of the north, south, and east sides. At the north end there was a tower built up from the
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ground to the belfry, surmounted by a tall spire on the top of which was fastened a weather vane in the shape of a brass rooster. The tower was entered by two doors, one on the north and the other on the east side. I think the bell bore the date of 1806. It was cracked some years ago and replaced by another. I have heard a great many other bells, but never one so sweet toned as that.
The town always exercised the right of seating the meetinghouse ; and when a reseating was deemed advisable, an article for that purpose was placed in the warrant, and if the vote was in the affirmative a committee was appointed to attend to the business and report to an adjourned meet- ing, when, if a majority was satisfied with the report, it was accepted. About three families were allotted to each pew as all the children except the smallest were expected to sit in the gallery; the girls in the north and the boys in the south, while the east gallery was divided between them. The front seats were occupied by the singers,-the "treble" · in the north, the "counter" in the north half of the front seat in the east gallery, the "tenor" in the south half of the same seat, while the "bass" occupied the front seat in the south gallery. Behind the "singers' seats" were two rows of seats raised by successive steps, one higher than the other, where the children sat, and it was the duty of the tything man to see that they behaved with propriety. Back of these seats, raised one step higher, was a row of square pews running all around the galleries. These were seated . by the committee and were occupied by the young men and young women, the former on the south and the latter on the north side, while the east side was divided between them. The maiden ladies were seated in the north "high pew" before mentioned, while the bachelors were assigned the one on the south side. There was always some dissatis- faction with the allotment of the seats, but much less than might reasonably be expected from the seating by such a method, as the seating below was supposed to have some reference to wealth and social position. I recollect one instance of a man who was seated by the north door, who consoled himself by saying that it "was better to be a door- keeper in the house of the Lord, than to dwell with the wicked," and another young man who was seated with two
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very old men remarked, that he "supposed the committee feared he would play in meeting." Theology and politics formed the subjects of conversation whenever people met at the store, the tavern, and at social gatherings.
About fifty years ago the belfry and spire were taken down, the bell was transferred to a tower erected at the south end of the church, the pews were taken out and slips were substituted for them. The old high pulpit was removed, and a platform pulpit erected. Until this time no apparatus for warming the meetinghouse had been used. In cold weather every family started out with a foot stove, and the minister stood up and preached in a heavy overcoat and thick gloves. The majority of the society now thought best to attempt making the room more comfortable. Ac- cordingly with great caution, many being opposed to stoves in the audience room, they placed two stoves in the porch at the south end of the building, running pipes through the partition and extending them to outlets at the north end. But the degree of heat thus obtained-though hardly per- ceptible-was intolerable to the minority, who to the number of about forty, under the leadership of the late Mr. Oliver Smith, "signed off" and left the society.
In my early days no stoves were used in the dwelling houses either for warming or cooking. The baking was done in large brick ovens, or in a shallow, covered iron dish called a "bake kettle." The kitchen fireplace was very · large, both broad and deep; and when the fire was kindled it consisted of a large "back log" on which was laid a smaller log called a "back stick." In front of these a large quantity of wood was placed resting on a pair of heavy andirons. In the houses more recently built the kitchen fireplace was furnished with a crane, but the older houses had only hooks and trammels hanging from a crossbar fastened some dis- tance up the chimney. For additional protection against the cold, in many families a "settle" was used. This was a bench some five or six feet long with a high back of closely fitting boards to be drawn up in front of the fire, where one could sit and not have one's back exposed to the cold air. In those days also, the clothing was not well adapted to protect from the cold, as neither men nor boys wore woolen
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under-garments, but relied chiefly upon heavy overcoats and camlet cloaks lined with thick green baize.
In severe weather the sleeping rooms were intensely cold, but every family had a warming pan chiefly used by the aged and females; but a boy who should have his bed warmed was an object of derision among his fellows.
The observance of the Sabbath was exceedingly strict ; all unnecessary work ceasing at sunset on Saturday, on which evening, so far as I can recollect, it was the custom to have "hasty pudding" and milk for supper. On the Sabbath everything like levity or mirth was severely frowned upon. In the afternoon of that day the children of the family were collected and instructed in the "West- minster Catechism." Sunday schools were unknown until a much later day. On the whole, with the best intentions on the part of their elders, the Sabbath was made to the children about as wearisome as it could be. But the moment the sun disappeared in the west, the Sabbath was over and the mirth and jollity which had been suppressed for twenty-four hours broke forth with little control.
The custom referred to above of eating "hasty pudding" for the Saturday evening supper, gave Northampton the name of "Pudding Town," and the Northampton people were called in derision "Puddingers." Middle Lane in Hat- field was called "Pudding Lane," but for what reason I do not know, nor do I know why the street to the north of it was called "Canada Lane." [It was the road leading north to Deerfield and thence to Canada.]
It was an old custom after the crops had been gathered, to open the meadows for the use of the inhabitants gener- ally, all of whom were allowed to turn in their animals during the period of fourteen days. For this reason, as well as for the fact that cows were allowed to run at large at all times, it was necessary that the meadows should be fenced and gates kept up at the entrances. There was such a gate at a point a little south of the site now occupied by the house of Erastus Cowles, and I propose to begin here and going north give what I remember of each house and its inhabitants.
Close by this gate on the west side of the road stood the house of Nathan Geary. He came from the eastern
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part of the state and was, I think, a shoemaker. He mar- ried the daughter of the elder Elisha Wait and had five sons and four daughters. The sons all emigrated,-the daughters all remained in town,-of whom Mrs. Polly Graves is the only survivor.
The next house was owned and occupied by Gen. Isaac Maltby, who came from Connecticut, was a graduate of Yale College in 1786 and married a daughter of Seth Mur- ray, who, I am told, was the Murray alluded to in Trum- bull's "McFingal." His widow died since my memory. Mr. Maltby was a brigadier general of militia and was in com- mand of a brigade at Boston when Governor Strong, in the last war with Great Britain, called out the militia for the defense of that city. I remember when, on the discharge of these troops, General Maltby, his son, Murray, Israel Bill- ings, and Moses Morton appeared at church on the Sabbath dressed in their regimentals, and offered a "note of thanks- giving to God for their safe return." The offering of a "note of thanksgiving" after recovery from sickness, or deliverance from danger, was an old custom observed in those days; also the formal request of those who were suf- fering from recent bereavement that prayer might be offered for the sanctification of the event to the good of their souls ; those who offered these requests always rising and standing in their place during the reading of the "note." General Maltby removed with his family to Waterloo, N. Y., where he died in 1819.
The house now occupied by Samuel F. Billings is the same as that in which the Murrays and Maltbys lived, and consequently is pretty old. The lot on which it stands is the same with that which in the early settlement of the town was allotted to Richard Fellows. Robert Holmes, who came from Acworth, N. H., and succeeded Simeon Smith as toll-gather, also lived here and manufactured fanning mills. Lyman Bennett, whom I remember as a very worthy young man, learned that trade of Holmes, but afterwards removed to Troy, N. Y., where he accumu- lated a large fortune in the shirt and collar business.
The next is the lot assigned to John Cowles, one of the first settlers of the town, and was, at my earliest recollec- tion, occupied by Dea. Rufus Cowles, his descendant. None
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of his children emigrated. His eldest son, Augustus, died while a member of Yale College. He was one of the best young men I ever knew, and was of great promise, dying lamented by all who knew him. This is one of the two places in town still owned by descendants of the first occupant of the same name. The old house, which was torn down many years ago, faced the north as does the one now standing on the same site. It is probable that the first house built on the lot faced the east, about in the line of the house of Richard Fellows. These two, Fellows and Cowles, were probably the first residents on the "west side," and even then before the Main Street was laid out. On the east side of the lot, as I remember it, Cotton White had a blacksmith's shop, and a little south of that a carpenter's shop.
Across the road leading to "the Hill," was the lot originally allotted to Zachariah Field. At my earliest recol- lection Elijah, Moses, and Hannah Field, children of Medad Field, lived in a two-story house standing where Alpheus Cowles's house now stands. It then had the appearance of an old house. These three members of the Field family always lived in Hatfield, and died childless.
The house standing on the southeast corner of the same lot was then occupied by Cotton White. I suppose that it was built by Jesse Billings. I have a dim recollection of a blacksmith's shop standing a little north of the house. I well remember that in the street at this point was a place which had been used for heating wagon tires.
North of this was a one-story house which had been occu- pied by Moses Hitchcock for a store, but after the death of Capt. Israel Parsons was occupied by his widow and family until they left for Canada. The house was removed to the northeast corner of the Cowles lot, and was occupied suc- cessively by James Bucknam, David Chapman, and Horace Shumway.
The next house was owned and occupied by Capt. Israel Parsons, and after his death came into the possession of Col. Erastus Billings. The first two ministers of Hatfield, Mr. Atherton and Mr. Chauncey, lived on this place and Nathaniel Chauncey, the first graduate of Yale College, was born there.
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In the next house Mrs. Miriam Billings resided with her son, Roswell Billings, and his family. Her sister, Rebecca Dickinson,-familiarly known as "Aunt Beck,"-lived with her. She was a very intelligent woman and her sayings were frequently repeated, she being regarded as a sort of oracle. A horse shed stood a few rods from the street south of the house; and I think that either Capt. Silas Billings or his father, Zachary, kept a tavern on the place. The latter was connected with Col. Oliver Partridge's regi- ment, which was stationed near Lake George in the year 1758, and was in the battle of Ticonderoga fought on July 6th of the same year.
The next was the house of Lieut. Samuel Partridge, my grandfather, who died in 1809. His wife was a daughter of Capt. Seth Dwight, who inherited this property from his father, Henry Dwight. My grandfather was a lieutenant in Col. William Williams's regiment in the French war, and was in the disastrous battle of Ticonderoga in 1758. He was also at the taking of Quebec and saw General Wolfe brought in mortally wounded. Seth Dwight, my great- grandfather, lived on this place in a house near the north- east corner of John A. Billings's lot about ten or twelve feet from the street, and its north side on the line between J. A. Billings and Otis Wells. At my earliest remembrance there was a building on this spot used as a currier's shop, and the cellar of this building was the same as that under the house of Seth Dwight and his father, Henry Dwight. On the southeast corner of this lot there was a building occupied as a store,-first, by Dwight & Partridge and afterwards by C. & S. Partridge. The house in which my grandfather lived, (and in which I was born), stood between these two build- ings occupying the same site as the present house built by Mr. Billings; and was probably when pulled down about one hundred years old. C. & S. Partridge also carried on the tanning business, and their tan yard was directly south of the spot now occupied by Mr. J. A. Billings's tobacco barn. The store at this time was the only one in town, and a smaller proportion of the trade went abroad than in later years.
They were licensed retailers of ardent spirits, but it must be remembered that the traffic in ardent spirits was then
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considered honorable ; indeed, public opinion and the laws of the Commonwealth required that it should be intrusted only to men of established character and integrity. The courts would not entertain an application for a license unless the good character and standing of the applicant were certified by the selectmen. Ardent spirits were used in every family from the highest to the lowest,-the minister not excepted. A flip-iron was considered as necessary an appendage to the chimney corner as the carving knife was to the table. Flip was a beverage which seems to have be- longed to that period, and that section of the country. A principal component was the small beer brewed by every family; to this was added rum and sugar with a flavoring of nutmeg, to which the finishing touch was given by plung- ing in the red hot iron. As I recall the delicious flavor of this compound, I cannot wonder that it was a general favorite with our fathers. This drink was more particularly used during the winter, and was considered indispensable on high social occasions, and its absence from a meeting of an association of ministers would have been unfavorably noticed. The first Monday in April was known among the juveniles as "Egg Pop day," and it will scarcely be believed by the present generation, that parents, and those, too, of as high moral standing as any in the community, could fit out their boys of eight or ten years with each a teacup of sugar, a half pint of rum, and six eggs to meet their play- mates, each one provided in the same manner, to spend the day in play and in drinking "Egg Pop"; yet, such was the custom. But it should in justice be stated that the drinking was under the supervision of some elderly person, and that luckily it only occurred once a year.
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