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 25
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The next house was old, of a light yellow color, and was occupied by the Meekins family, consisting of two brothers, Levi and John, and one sister, Irene, who all died unmarried.
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They had not a high social standing, being regarded as very miserly. But after the death of John, Levi showed a desire for a more decent way of life and prevailed upon Mr. Roswell Hubbard to take the house and care for him, and at his death made Mr. Hubbard his principal, if not his sole, heir. The house now standing is the same, but much improved in appearance.
The next house, I am told, was built by Elihu Morton, who married a Miss Ballard and afterwards removed to New Jersey. It then became the property of Ebenezer White and was occupied as a sort of tenement house sometimes by one family and sometimes by another. At length it became a tavern kept by Ebenezer Dwight, but this continued only a few years. When I left Hatfield, it was occupied by Silas White, son of Ebenezer White. Whether the house is still standing, I do not know. I think it was bought and is still owned by Jonathan S. Graves.
In the next house lived Elijah Nash. Of his family I only recollect that he had one son, named John. The family left town when I was very young. After the Nash family left, it was occupied by Gad Wait and his family, consisting of himself, wife, three sons, and three daughters. The parents died in town, but the children all removed. The house was painted red, and was afterwards owned and occupied by Thaddeus, son of Solomon Graves, Sr., and after him by Harvey Graves, the son of Levi, who left it for a home in Wisconsin. It afterwards passed into the hands of Marshall Hubbard, who built, I think, a new house on the site of the old one.
The next house was of one story and unpainted. I seem to remember Adney Smith as living there, but I must have been very young. I have been told that this Adney Smith was an ardent Whig in the Revolution, and that when on one occasion he was attending family prayers at Mrs. Hub- bard's, the next house, a Mr. Joel Smith, who was officiating, offered a petition for the king and Parliament, Adney gave him a severe kick, exclaiming, "Now keep in your own coun- try." The next occupant of this house, as I remember, was John White, who married Sophia, eldest daughter of Ebe- nezer White, and lived here many years, afterwards remov- ing with his family to Ohio.
The next house was owned and occupied by the widow of
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Mr. John Hubbard and must be now more than a hundred years old. Mr. Hubbard was one of a large family. His mother, widow of Elisha Hubbard, lived here with John's widow. His children were four sons and one daughter, and these, together with "Uncle Joel" Smith, constituted the family. The eldest son, Stearns, married Electa, daughter of Elijah White; Roswell married Mehitable Packard of En- field; Elijah married Julia, daughter of Ebenezer White; and John married Clarissa Clapp of Northampton. These all lived and died in Hatfield, and one daughter, Miss Lois, still lives on the old homestead. The two elm trees in front of this house, as I have been informed, were brought from Brook Hollow by the grandfather of Miss Lois more than one hun- dred and fifty years ago, and are probably among the oldest, if not the very oldest, in town.
Passing northerly, by the old burying ground, the next house was that now occupied by Mr. Samuel P. Billings, and was then the home of Mr. Israel Williams, a bachelor and son of Col. Israel Williams. His housekeeper was Hannah Barker. The house before my day was occupied by a brother of Colonel Williams, who was clerk of the Court and known as "Clerk" Williams. His office was on the opposite side of the street and was removed by the father of Mr. S. P. Billings towards the bridge, where it is now occupied as a dwelling house by Mr. Moses Kingsley.
The first house on the east side was that of Sylvanus Smith, brother of Simeon, and was a one-story building. Mr. Smith's wife was a daughter of Ebenezer Fitch and they had two sons and two daughters. One of the sons, E. Fitch Smith, was at the time of his death a lawyer of some prom- inence in New York and had been previously a judge in Geneva, N. Y. This whole family removed to the state of New York.
Next, north of this, was a one-story building, flush with the street, which changed occupants from time to time. I do not remember who occupied it in those early days.
The next house was a one-story house occupied by Isaac Sanderson. He had three sons and two daughters. One of the daughters married Horace Shumway and remained in town. One son, also, Alvan, remained in town, but the other children all emigrated to the state of New York.
Going towards the Mill bridge, where the Fitch
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Brothers built a store which is now standing, was a one- story house occupied by Enos Nash, who came from Hadley and was a carpenter. He had two sons, both of whom removed from town. These were the only houses between the two bridges.
Coming to the Mill bridge, there was at the right hand on the south end an old dilapidated building, called the "Oil Mill." At the other end of the bridge, on the right hand, were the grist mill and sawmill. Turning from this end of the bridge, and going west some twenty or thirty rods, on the left side of the road, stood the house of John Allis, who lived here with his wife, a daughter of Lieut. Samuel Par- tridge, and two sons. One of these died in infancy; the other remained in Hatfield, where he married and died. The house was old, of two stories, and is probably not standing now. Mr. Allis had living with him two colored boys, Spence and Bob, who attended school in the brick schoolhouse, described in the first part of this paper.
Going still west, about one fourth of a mile, on the same side of the road, lived Henry Wilkie, who was from Wolfen- buttel, Germany, belonged to General Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga. While on his march to Boston for reembarkation to Germany, he made his escape, preferring to remain in this country. He was a barber in his native country, and told me that the barbers there were surgeons to the extent of bleeding patients. He lived in a small one-story house with his wife and four sons. All of these sons attended school in the old brick schoolhouse. One of the sons, Henry, remained in town, where he died at an advanced age. The others left town before their father's death.
Returning, and following the road as it turns to the north, crossing a little stream, and ascending the hill, on the left side of the road at a point a little south of the spot where Henry Wilkie's house now stands was a one-story building occupied by Quartus Knight and his family. Mrs. Knight was Lydia Parsons, who had lived with Lieut. David Billings and was a relative of his wife. The family removed from town many years ago.
Nearly opposite the Knight house, down in a hollow, was a distillery, where Josiah Allis, Remembrance Bardwell, Samuel Hastings, and Austin Smith manufactured whisky.
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It was not a pecuniary success, fortunately, and was soon discontinued.
The next house, about thirty or forty yards distant, on the Deerfield road, was occupied by an elderly man named John Curtis, with his son Lebbeus and family. The elder Curtis was a miller, having charge of the gristmill. He, with his son Lebbeus, removed from town long ago, but three of his sons, Edward, Elbartus, and Dorus, remained in town and died there.
At some little distance north was a small one-story house where Primus Easton, a colored man, lived. Still farther on, at the corner of the Deerfield and Williamsburg roads, lived Amos Newport, another colored man, whose father was kid- naped when a child and brought from the coast of Africa. He was owned by the Billings family, and when slavery was abolished in Massachusetts that family gave him a little farm in West Whately.
On the other side of the Williamsburg road were two small houses, little better than huts, one inhabited by Jabez New- bury, a colored man, and his family, and the other by Patience Wells, a little old white woman, commonly called "Aunt Patie," who kept house here and was supported partly by the town and partly by individuals. This woman was a peculiar, and not an unpleasant, object, as her short figure passed along the street, dressed in coarse garments, but with scru- pulous neatness and in cold weather wearing a large gray woolen cloak over all, and, whatever the weather, always carrying a good-sized basket on her arm. She used no formality in calling upon her chosen patrons, but opened the door and walked straight in. But her calls were not made at haphazard, for she only favored such families as she held in esteem for their superior cookery and generous house- keeping. She would always sit and refresh herself and have a little friendly chat before announcing the object of her call, which she was accustomed to do with this formula, "Have you got anything to-day for the old beggar's basket?" This question was not put with the air of a beggar at all, but rather of a creditor who had come to collect his just dues ; and her friends took care in filling her basket to select only such preparations as were suited to a critical and fastidious appetite. She was liberal in her theological views for those days, and, in fact, she might be called an "advanced thinker."
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I heard her relate how she once heard a sermon where the minister told the story of the prodigal son's return, and how his father saw him a great way off and ran and met him and fell on his neck and kissed him, assuring his hearers that was the way Christ felt towards them, "and that," she said, "is the kind of preaching I like to hear."
About half a mile to the west, on the left side of the road, near where it turns to the north, stood the house of Roswell Pease, where he lived with his family. It was a small red building, and there was no other dwelling on this road nearer than the other side of Horse Mountain in Williamsburg.
THE OLDEST HOUSE IN TOWN.
Returning eastward toward the Middle Lane, and descend- ing the hill known as "Stone Pits," there was on the right a yellow gambrel-roofed one-story house, then occupied by Nehemiah Wait and his wife. The house still remains there, and I think is probably the oldest house in town. I have mentioned it before as the old "Morton house" removed from the Perez Hastings place not less than eighty years ago.
In a southeasterly direction from this house, and on the opposite side of the road leading to the mill, there stood a two-story, unpainted house, in which lived Joel Day and his
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family, consisting of his wife, four sons, and one daughter. One son was drowned in the river near the house. Another son, Zelotes, settled in New Haven, Conn., where he became a wealthy and respected citizen. Alonzo, the eldest, removed to Savannah, Ga. Pliny remained in Hatfield, where he died. He was married, but had no children. The daughter mar- ried and removed west, where she became a Mormon. Mr. Joel Day served a short time in the Revolutionary army, and married Mercy, daughter of William Murray.
The next, a two-story house east of Mr. Day's, was that of Lieut. Abraham Billings, who lived there with his son Abra- ham, whose wife was a daughter of William Morton. These all lived and died in Hatfield, but the children of Abraham, Jr., left the town.
The next house was that of Abner Dickinson, who re- moved to the state of New York with his family many years ago. I only remember his son Wells, who became a prom- inent man in that state and a member of Congress. This house was afterwards occupied by Richard Smith. It was by no means new, but had a fresher appearance than any other house on that street except one.
Jabez Belden and his wife lived in the next house. I only remember him as in appearance a very old man and having the reputation of being miserly.
The next house was that of Zebina Dickinson and stood nearly opposite the house of Elijah White. It was of one story and appeared very old. He had two sons and four daughters. The oldest son removed when a young man to Canada ; the remaining children lived in Hatfield, where they all died except the widow of Erastus Cowles, who still lives.
On the other side of the street, farther to the east and beside "the Drain," there was a tan yard belonging to Silas Porter, but no dwelling house between this and the main street on either side of the lane.
Going west, next to the tan yard stood the house of Alpheus Longley, a one-story building still standing. Mr. Longley came from Shirley, Mass. He was a mason and stonecutter. His wife was the daughter of Seth Bardwell and granddaughter of Salmon Dickinson. They had a son and daughter. The son died in infancy; the daughter is the wife of James W. Warner. Mr. Longley removed to the
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Bardwell house on Main Street, where he died, having held the office of postmaster for several years.
Next was the house of Elijah White, the newest on the lane. It presented, when I last saw it, about the same ap- pearance that it had in my early days, except that it had been painted. His family consisted of himself and wife, four sons, and five daughters. Two of the sons and three of the daugh- ters removed to the states of New York and Ohio; the remainder died in Hatfield.
Mr. Josiah Morton lived in the next house, which was said to be the oldest in town. It was of two stories and stood on the site 'of the house now occupied by his grandson, Mr. Charles K. Morton. The family consisted of Mr. Morton, his wife, who was from Longmeadow and was a sister of Abijah Bliss; three sons, Moses, Rodolphus, and Leander; and two daughters, all of whom died in Hatfield. Moses married Sophia, daughter of Dea. Cotton Partridge; Rodol- phus married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Israel Dickinson; while the other children remained unmarried. The upper story of Mr. Morton's house projected over the lower story, like all the early houses, so built for defense against the Indians.
Going now to the junction of Upper Lane and Main Street from Elijah Dickinson's northwesterly, the next house was that of Silas Bardwell, of two stories, painted red, and pretty old. Mrs. Bardwell was the daughter of William Morton. They had two children, a son, Oliver, who became insane, and a daughter, Louisa, who married Josiah Allis. The house is the same now occupied by James Wait.
The next house was that of Benjamin Morton, though I think he died before my recollection. His wife and children, two sons and three daughters, lived in this house. All of these, with one exception, died in Hatfield. One son, Ben- jamin, removed to Northampton.
In the next house lived Zechariah Field and wife with their son Seth and his wife and children, three sons and two daughters. The parents and grandparents died in Hatfield, but the children all left town. The house was of two stories and had been painted white.
About midway between this house and the foot of "Clay Hill" there stood a one-story house, which I think was cov- ered with rough boards, very poor in appearance, and occu-
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pied by Elijah Graves, who came from South Hadley and after a few years returned to that town with his family, of whom I remember only one son, by the name of Ransom. Between this house and the Field house there was a gate leading into the meadow.
Crossing to the other side of the street, about opposite the Field house, stood an old building in which Gideon Morton had lived, but, as I recollect it, was uninhabited.
Next to this was a two-story house not very old, owned by Chester Morton, in which he lived with his wife and several children. Mr. Morton and his wife died in Hatfield, but his children moved away.
Next to this, towards the east, was a two-story house painted white, occupied by Elisha Wait, his wife, his son Elisha and his wife, with three children, Justin, George, and Dolly. The house is the same as that owned by George Wait at his death. The other son, Justin, bought the house of Silas Bardwell and died there. The daughter married Justin Hastings and lived and died in Hatfield. The elder Elisha Wait was a grandson of the heroic Benjamin Wait, and was born in 1725, seven years before the birth of General Washington and thirty years before the defeat of Braddock. I remember seeing him a great many times when I was a little boy and drove the cows past his house to pasture. He was always sitting at one window and his wife opposite him at another window. He died in 1816, aged ninety-one. I remember seeing no other man born at so early a date.
With the exception of the outskirts, I have now given my earliest recollections of the town, with its houses and inhab- itants as they then appeared. I will now proceed to give what I can recollect of the outlying districts.
Commencing with what was then called "West Farms," the nearest house to the Whately line was on the west side of the street and was occupied by Mr. Joseph Guild and his wife. He was an exemplary Christian citizen, and was held in the highest respect by all who knew him. He served through the seven years of the Revolutionary war and was, for a time, at least, sergeant in Colonel Cilley's regiment. He was present at the taking of General Burgoyne at Sara- toga, at the battle of Monmouth, at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, besides being concerned in other minor affairs. He told me how on two occasions he met
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General Washington. Once, when on sentry duty, General Washington, accompanied by General Hamilton, made a movement to pass him, when he stopped them and demanded the countersign. They did not comply with his request at once, and General Hamilton persisted in the attempt to pass, when Mr. Guild cocked his gun and told him if he passed he was a dead man. Upon this, General Washington said some- thing to General Hamilton and they gave him the counter- sign and passed on. The other occasion was at Yorktown, when General Washington sent him to reconnoiter a certain fort in order to ascertain whether the British still held it. He went, ascertained that they were still in possession, and so reported to the General. In speaking of the depreciated state of the currency at that time, he told me that he had taken his whole month's pay and paid it out for one glass of grog. During the last years of his life he received a pension of eight dollars a month. He had no children, but was well cared for in his declining years by Mr. Aretas Scott, who succeeded to his property.
Next, going south, was a one-story house occupied by Thaddeus Scott, his mother, wife, and two sons. Both of the sons removed from town.
A little above the meadow gate, on the opposite side of the road, was a two-story house occupied by Gideon Dickinson and his family, who removed from town some forty years ago. If I mistake not, this is the same house, though con- siderably changed, as that now occupied by Solomon Mosher. Jeremiah Belden lived on the west side of the road with his family at some distance south of Thaddeus Scott. He re- moved from town.
Samuel Belden lived in West Farms, and I think on the east side of the road, but am not sure. He had three sons, two of whom left town; the third, Sanford, lived and died in Hatfield. When he died the town lost a man of strict in- tegrity.
On the west side of the road, considerably south of Jere- miah Belden, there stood a one-story house in which lived Solomon Morton and his wife and several children. All of these removed to Ohio, except Richard T. and Susannah, who married Dorus Curtis. Afterwards Richard T. removed to Whately, where he died.
On the Deerfield road, before it descends into West Farms,
1
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stood an old one-story house in which there lived a family named Munson. I think I am not mistaken, though at that time I was very young. I suppose this to be the house in which William Morton, Jr., lived and afterwards his brother, Cotton.
Not far distant from this house, on the Whately road, in a small one-story house, Edmund Bird lived. I recollect only one house between this and the river at West Brook, and that was a small house on the corner of the Claverick road, where lived an elderly man named Carly, with the accent on the last syllable. This family soon left town.
Passing on towards Whately, soon after crossing the bridge on the north side of the road, in a one-story house, lived Laban Lorin with his wife and three sons. The parents died there, but the sons left town.
On the opposite side of the street lived a Mr. Bennett, I think his name was Phineas, who was accidentally killed. He was the father of Lyman Bennett, previously mentioned. I believe that none of the family remain in town.
Next to this was a two-story house, unpainted, owned by Nathaniel Frary, in which he lived with his wife, one or two daughters, and a stepson named Hillman. Another stepson, Samuel Hillman, was a lawyer in North Carolina. None of this family remain to my knowledge except a daughter who married David Gardner.
Going west, the next, a two-story house, was that of Aaron Dickinson, a brother of Daniel and Roger Dickinson. His wife was a daughter of Charles Phelps, Esq., of Hadley. They had four sons, David, Aaron, Walter, and Cooley. The last named still lives in the same house. The others died in Hatfield, though I am not sure but David removed from town.
A few families lived over the mountain, on farms which belonged to Hatfield, though inside the Williamsburg line. There may have been more, but I only remember two fam- ilies, Jonathan A. Gillett, who lived with his father on the east side of Mountain Street, and Bevil G. Warren, who lived with his family farther south. He was the great-uncle of Bishop Warren of the Methodist church.
On a road which led over the mountain from Pantry, to the south end of Mountain Street, there was a house occu-
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pied by Stephen Green and his family, consisting of two sons.
I have now given account of every house in Hatfield which was standing at the period of my earliest recollection, and I would fix 1812 as a close approximation to the true date, though in regard to many my memory goes farther back.
It should be borne in mind that the preceding pages con- tain my own personal recollections; that written as they have been without any assistance from documents or con- temporaries, it is hardly possible that I should have escaped falling into some errors ; but I believe, in the main, my state- ments may be relied upon as correct.
SAMUEL D. PARTRIDGE.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, 1880.
NOTE .- I had intended to give in the foregoing pages the name of every inhabitant of Hatfield who to my knowledge participated in the French war of 1758, or in the war of the Revolution, but I find that I have omitted to state that my great-grandfather, Col. John Dickinson, commanded a regi- ment of militia in 1775, when Boston was invested by the Americans under General Washington and Governor Gage with the British troops was compelled to evacuate that city.
S. D. P.
N. B .- I have read with great pleasure the entire text of the foregoing reminiscences by my cousin, Samuel D. Par- tridge. Our early lives were contemporaneous (being my- self only two years the older) and were passed within a stone's throw of each other. My memory harmonizes very closely with his; and I am deeply impressed with the accu- racy of his statements of fact and of reflection upon indi- vidual character in every instance where he has expressed them.
JOS. L. PARTRIDGE.
August 11, 1891.
II .- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL W. WELLS.
The interest manifested by many of the people of Hat- field in the reminiscences of our town by Samuel D. Partridge has led us to continue the same through the year 1909. The following pages give the result of our search and inquiry respecting the homes and occupants since the time mentioned by Mr. Partridge. There may be errors and omissions in this list, but it is as correct as present information will allow. The places described are by house row, up one side of the street and down on the opposite side. These notes are offered in hope that they may be of interest and value in future time.
VALLEY STREET.
Beginning at the south end of what was once Main Street, near the old meadow gate, the house of Nathan Gerry was torn down by Samuel F. Billings in 1860. Silas Billings with his wife, Mary Graves, lived on the Richard Fellows allotment. Their son, Samuel F. Billings, who married Elizabeth H., daughter of Dexter Allis, repaired the house, and his widow with her two sons, Edward H. and Louis A., now occupies the place.
The house on the John Cowles allotment was built by Rufus Cowles, who married Fanny P. Moody of Amherst. They had one daughter, Lucy Osborn, who died in 1893. The place was devised to Rufus H. Cowles, who sold it in 1898 to the present owner, Patrick T. Boyle, who married Lizzie Brennan of Whately.
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