USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Leyden > History of Leyden, Massachusetts, 1676-1959 > Part 11
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The Years 1846-1858: The Mexican War, which began in 1846, had few repercussions in Leyden, or in many New England hill towns for that matter because of its unpopularity in the Northeast. A letter from the Adjutant General in Boston informs us that the First Company Infantry, M. V. M. was the only com- pany to serve from Massachusetts during the Mexican War. No Leyden soldiers have been identified on the rolls of this com- pany.
Judging by the Leyden names which appear in old Cali- fornia records, it is safe to say that a fair representation of Ley- den's youth, taking advantage of newly completed eastern rail- way services, headed for the California gold fields when the rush began early in 1849. We know that a good number of Ley- den men helped blaze the western trail, and that some were pio- neers of the great cities which have since grown up in their footsteps. Outstanding among these pioneers were Lucy Corse and her husband, J. B. Smith. According to Sheldon's History of Deerfield, Lucy was the granddaughter of Indian fighter Asher Corse and great granddaughter of Samuel Chapin, a founder of Springfield, Massachusetts. Lucy's father, John Corse, moved to Leyden from Greenfield Meadows about 1798. In 1815, Lucy was born in Leyden and in 1834 married J. B. Smith. Ac- cording to Sheldon "they removed to Milwaukee in 1835 and their daughter, Milwaukee Harriet, was the first white child born in that town."
During the turbulent years preceding the Civil War - the years of Polk's, Taylor's, Pierce's and Buchanan's administra- tions - Leyden and other hill towns plodded along trying to keep an even keel and hoping against hope that somehow, in some way, the question of slavery would be settled and peace would continue in the land.
At this period, when the Leyden population figure began to level off - even to increase a little - the 1858 Wallings map of the area furnishes excellent data for a complete picture of the town one hundred years ago. It is the first map of Leyden which
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shows all places of residence as well as schools, churches, stores, blacksmith shops and topographical features.
It is interesting to compare the data on this map with that on Newcomb's 1831 survey. The Wallings map shows six school locations; Newcomb's five. Wallings shows six mills; New- comb's ten. Two blacksmith shops, not indicated on the New- comb map, appear on the 1858 chart. Interesting, too, is indica- tion of a shift in the town center from the west, on Ethan Allan Highway, to the present eastern location. The Newcomb map shows one church in the old center; the Wallings map shows churches in both old and new centers. It will be noted that most of the 1858 citizens listed are of old pioneer stock. The great im- migration, which began in the Forty's and brought in new blood from Ireland, Germany and France, is not reflected on the Wall- ings map. In fact, "Mr. J. Black" stands out as a pioneer re- presentative in the wave of European immigration which later reached Leyden's "shores."
In order to present the full picture of the town of Leyden over a century ago, we have decided to list all the names on the Wall- ings map rather than make a reproduction which would be dif- ficult to read because of small print.
Just prior to the great civil strife, this overall "picture" rep- resents an era of quiet living when kerosene lamps were coming in, and the new songs, "Jingle Bells" and Stephen Foster's "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming" strike a key note.
Here, then, in a novel arrangement, is a word picture of Ley- den, 101 years ago. First names were abbreviated by Wallings; but we have supplied full names when possible. Beginning at the north end of the River Road in the northwest corner of the town was the 1858 home of Nathaniel Avery; next down the road lived Crandall Thorn. Opposite him was Allen Gates' home, birth- place of John Riddell's mother. At the foot of the hill was the Thorn Mill. Next down the road lived R. Miner on the old Benj. Baker place, and off to the left was the Crandall homestead. E. G. Miner lived on the present Louise Johnson place.
In the West Leyden settlement at the bridge lived B. R. Richmond, Arad Denison, John Mowry and G. W. Stanton. Rich- mond operated a "Gun Shop" near his home. The Mowry home- site where John Wells has recently rebuilt, may have been the birthplace of John L. Riddell, pioneer space scientist.
Following the steep road, northeastward up the hill the "R. Richmond" place (now Robertson's) stood near the summit,
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south of the West Leyden cemetery. Down the Bell Road, west- ward were the homes of "J. Mowry and A. Miner" with School House #5 at the junction with the Miner Road where Esther Stanton, J. R. Miner and Joseph Babcock lived.
North of the cemetery site was the C. C. Miner place and farther east, beyond "Peleg's Bog" lived N. G. Mowry, with D. Green & Son on the old Green place half way up the hill. A. W. Carpenter was on the present Snow farm, while down the Lamb Road lived "Mrs. Bassett." Nearby was A. J. Buddington.
Beginning at the Vermont line on Ethan Allan Highway and moving south were the homes of L. D. and E. D. Alexander; then J. A. Gates, and on the Packer place, A. P. Shattuck. Next came the birthplace of Henry K. Brown where Samuel, a brother, lived in 1858. Nearly opposite lived Briggs Potter and his son.
At the Old Center, just south of the district school which Henry Brown attended, lived "S. Billings & Mrs. M. Newcomb." "M. Carpenter" had a store just below the old Meetinghouse. The Tavern, opposite, owned by J. H. Newcomb, was the scene of country auctions at this time.
Southward, down the County Road, lived Harvey Wilbur on the old Briggs place and at the foot of the hill was "J. Basset," and beyond him, the South Cemetery. To the right, on the old Kately Road lived G. Marcy and Z. King. "J. Henry" lived on the present Campbell place nearly opposite District School #6. On the Mowry Mountain Road lived "Mrs Davenport," William Marcy and A. O. Budington who owned three houses on this road. David Mowry and R. Henry owned houses at the extreme south end of this "highway." On the right side of the County Road below Mowry's lived "J. Black," one of the first immigrants to come to Leyden, probably as a result of the great potato famine in Ireland.
Back on top of the hills, we list the inhabitants of the New Center and those living on roads branching from this central location. The blacksmith shop of A. A. Field was at the head of the road leading toward Beaver Meadow. Opposite lived A. M. Carlton with Dr. T. S. Vining. J. Foster, Jr. lived on the present Spencer Howes place, with J. Cary north of him. The present Dobias farm was occupied in 1858 by R. S. & B. S. Foster.
The Wallings map shows a school in the new center. This was undoubtedly the Academy which Dr. Wilkins opened in 1845. Next the school was the Methodist Church; and on the present Ewer place lived "E. Davis." Back on the road leading
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southeast from the New Center, we find Mrs. L. Wilkins. The Methodist parsonage was next door, with R. H. Taylor's Union Store and Post Office close by. In order, following down the hill lived, S. L. Shattuck, J. Green, the Reverend De Wolf and Eli W. Packer. Harvey Wilbur owned the house at the point where the road crossed the brook at the foot of the hill. J. Budington was in the house next to Wilbur's and C. C. Severance lived at the junction of the valley road and the spur road leading eastward to J. H. Pratt's place.
The first house near the head of Alexander Road belonged to J. B. Denison with two more farms belonging to Edward Deni- son farther down the highway on the left and right respectively. Edward Denison was a teacher at Beaver Meadow School at the foot of the Alexander Road. Nearby was Beaver Meadow cemetery.
On the east side of the meadow, at the foot of Hunt Hill, lived R. O. Hescox in a large house said to have been built for the poor. (Finding no tenants, rumor has it he died in it penni- less himself!) Just north of Hescox lived Asahel Newton, Jr., with Oliver Chapin's large farm to the northwest. J. M. Wilder lived on the present Cook place, and there was a blacksmith shop down the mill road on the left. At the foot of the hill was the Rufus Shattuck home and below him lived "Mrs. M. Shattuck," with B. S. Keet opposite. Keet operated three mills just below his house. These were purchased from Shattuck in 1848. Fol- lowing up the Page Road to the plateau above the mills, we find two widows, Mrs. I. Cheney and Mrs. Allen living in seclusion.
Heading up the East Hill Road from the mills, the old Joshua Wells place was first on the right; next came Joseph Foster's, and on the left above him, the old William Dorril house site where Samuel Newton is listed as tenant in 1858. Elisha Newton lived on the John Glabach farm and W. S. Potter was on the Hine place. Marcus Frizzell lived on the old Cunnabell home- stead and a "G. Wells" was below him on the Couch Brook. Back on East Hill Road we find G. W. and R. Hastings on the present Black farm, with Thomas J. Newcomb on the Arms place. An "R. Phillips" lived at the head of Frizzell Hill Swamp. W. S. Potter owned the Baker place. Frizzell Hill school was nearly opposite, and the cemetery just below. Jotham Carpenter had the old Grinnel place, now owned by the Garrs. At the head of the East Glen Road lived Robert Strange. Below him were two farms owned by "H. Sheldon." J. E. and D. G. Chapin owned
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the place west of Sheldon, with Milton Mowry on the present Herron farm and Allen Eson at the end of a nearby spur road. Following down East Glen Road, we come to the large farm of Uriah T. Darling & Son, with D. N. Carpenter just below. Stephen Dorril, son of the Dorrilite founder, lived on the present Britton place, and below him was "O. Hastings." Off to the east, lived J. Erwin and R. Strong on a hill so steep legend has it that the owners had to carry grain home on their backs "to spare the horses."
At the top of Frizzell Hill West, lived Chester W. Severance; below him, Rufus Frizzell on the Howes place. Next came C. W. Newcomb, then R. S. Nash. Mrs. E. Carpenter was near the foot of the hill, with H. Potter on the present Douglas Barton home. C. W. Newcomb also owned the place known today as the "ghost house," with F. W. Carlton on the Wood place and "S. Newton" on the present Zimmerman farm.
In the southeast, near the old Hessian settlement, lived Marcus and Abel Chapin on the present Tyler farm. "J. Chapin" was on the Arnold place with Elisha Wells on the old Eudy farm. G. M. Gale was next door, while Zalmon Chapin lived on the present Dyer farm. Opposite was David Chapin, who like the other Chapin families in this area, was a descendant of Springfield's Samuel Chapin.
In the rare book department of the Boston Public Library there is a map similar to the 1858 Wallings production. It shows Leyden homesites, but without designation of the owners' names. Though undated, it is believed this earlier map was drawn up by 1855.
Leyden in the Civil War: In the late 1850's, Henry Kirke Brown, who had created many fine statues after his return from Europe, was invited to model a huge monumental work for the South Carolina state house. Brown made good progress on this project. He moulded symbolic figures representing Hope, Justice, and Liberty; laborers were shown working in the rice and cotton fields. But when the controversy over slavery waxed hot and the war clouds thickened, he was forced to abandon the South Carolina monument. He traveled north to Washington, where as a Leyden representative he worked with the sick and wounded throughout the civil strife. The work of art he had nearly completed in Columbia was destroyed by General Sher- man and his men when they passed through South Carolina.
Meanwhile, with the fall of Fort Sumter, men in the eastern
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hills, to the tune of "John Brown's Body" and the "Battle Cry of Freedom" were quick to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers. In Leyden, David C. Mowry and Eugene T. Mowry were first to enlist, with both men signing up in Com- pany C of the 27th Massachusetts Infantry on Sept. 13, 1861. David Mowry was engaged in the battles of Roanoke, Virginia and Newbern, North Carolina, but died of malerial fever the following October. Peter F. Baker joined Mowry's company on September 20th, 1861, but died at Annapolis the following February. Reuben De Wolfe enlisted on the same day with Baker, but was soon discharged for disability. Another Leyden casualty was Frank P. Marcy of the 46th Illinois Regiment. Marcy was killed, April 7, 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh while serving under U. S. Grant.
Stephen C. Newcomb, son of Charles W. Newcomb of Ley- den enlisted in 1861 at Newburg, N. Y. where he was working in the H. K. Brown foundry. He joined Company D of the First New York Rifles. During the war he was wounded several times and three horses were shot under him.
On March 12, 1862, Charles S. Babcock enlisted in Company I, 21st Massachusetts Infantry; J. O. Carpenter joined the 33rd Mass. Infantry, Company K, on June 20th; Frank C. Brown joined Company C, 27th Mass. Infantry on August 4th, but died October 8th; Hart E. Mowry also enlisted on August 4th; Edwin C. Newton joined the 52nd Regiment, Mass. Infantry, Company A, on October 2nd. On October 11th Leyden gave nine men to Company B, 52nd Mass. Regiment. These men were: Elijah Brown, John W. Budington, Uriah T. Darling, Simon S. Keet, Al- bert R. Robertson, James P. Robertson, Samuel C. Severance, W. W. Severance and Ezra A. Shattuck, Jr.
The 1864 volunteers (chiefly from newcomer Leyden families) are given below with date of enlistment and regiment served: February 29, William O. Cook, Ist Cavalry, Co. E; Franklin D. Hamilton, March 3, 28th Infantry, Co. B; Calvin L. Hamilton, March 3, 28th Infantry, Co. D; William B. Wood, Aug. 13, 37th Infantry, Co. H; Charles Connors, Dec. 24, Ist Regiment Heavy Artillery; Philip Hayes, Dec. 24, 37th Infantry, Co. A; William Owen, Dec. 24, 53rd Infantry Regiment.
Patriotism ran high in the Leyden hills during the civil conflict and any who did not do their part or shirked war-time responsibilities were summarily punished. One newly-arrived citizen attempted to avoid army induction by fleeing to Canada.
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Upon his return, he and the man who helped in his escape were tarred and feathered, then driven from town!
A member of a prominent Leyden family, having moved to Georgia, entered the Confederate Home Guard when the war broke out. He was later conscripted for the duration and fought under Stonewall Jackson. He surrendered to the Union troops at the Battle of Gettysburg and was imprisoned at Fort Mifflin near Philadelphia. With the aid of relatives he escaped by swimming the Delaware, and returned to the South. It is said that one of his brothers-in-law was taken prisoner by the Rebels! Such were the vagueries and tragedies of the American Civil War.
An interesting sidelight on the conflict came to our attention in a letter, without date or signature, obviously written by a Leyden man who had fought in the first Battle of Bull Run. The hitherto unpublished document recounts, in colorful prose, the defeat of the Black Horse Cavalry, "the flower of the sons of rich, aristocratic slave-holders," by a regiment of "northern, mud-soaked Fire Zouaves."
As a concluding note on the Civil War, we turn to the 1865 war memorial in Old Deerfield, designed and cast by Leyden's sculptor, Henry Kirke Brown. At the dedication of this piece, the speaker, pointing to the life-like eagles atop the monument, cried: "Such eagles as that could scream the Battle Cry of Freedom from Maine to Colorado!"
CHAPTER VIII
Leyden - 1861 Through World War I
he Fall Town Centennial: At a meeting in Leyden, Novem- ber 5, 1861, it was voted "to unite with the town of Bernardston in celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the incorpora- tion of the town and to choose a Committee to confer with Bernardston centennial officials." This committee included David Mowry, Horace Potter, F. W. Carlton, Chester W. Sever- ance and Oliver Chapin. Other Leyden officials for the Cen- tennial were: Jonathan Budington, Dr. T. S. Vining, Daniel L. Morgan, Zadoc King, E. W. Packer, A. O. Budington and Briggs Potter.
Centennial celebrations took place on August 20, 1862 when, under escort of a band from Hatfield, a colorful proces- sion wended its way toward the Bernardston Common where seats were provided for 1500 guests all of whom were invited to dinner by E. D. Fox, proprietor of Bernardston Tavern.
Toastmaster Dr. John Brooks welcomed, oratorically, the Leyden delegation, saying "Fifty-three years ago, as our daugh- ter, she left the parental hearthstone; today, as our sister, she returns to it with a warm greeting!" Lieutenant-Governor Cush- man then spoke at length on the history and development of "Fall Town." Showing impartial judgement in regard to early Indian troubles, particularly in regard to the causes of King Philip's War, he said: "The red men became enraged at the frequent acts of injustice perpetrated by the English settlers, and asserted themselves in self defence."
Speaking of the hardiness of early colonials, Cushman drew attention to one pioneer who sat beside him on the speak- er's platform - Mr. Edward Nelson, for many years a resident of Leyden. Nelson was then hale and hearty in his 98th summer - "a living memorial of the year 1765." Teachers and pupils from every school district in Leyden were present in gay dresses. They carried beautiful bouquets, and waved colorful banners when applause was called for.
In an amusing historical poem, Dr. John Brooks, father of Henry Brown's close friend, Catherine Brooks (Yale), pictured early pioneer life when hoes and shovels were so big and clumsy it took a strong man even to lift them off the ground!
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Brooks spoke of early wooden ploughs, plated with iron. He spoke of great and little spinning wheels, and described the early looms. Of the pioneer women, the Doctor said: "Not so flattered or caressed as in these modern times, with health most women then were blest."
He went on to tell how husband and wife often rode "pil- lion" to church astride the old grey mare. He spoke of the high-heeled shoes with pointed toes worn by the ladies, and of the cocked hats and wigs worn by the men. He described the men's breeches buckled tightly at the knees, and their long hair cued up in back with eel skin.
Next, the Reverend Thomas Marcy of Leyden paid tribute to his native town. He said Leyden had produced, among her other notable children, eleven clergymen, four doctors and three lawyers. An outstanding clergyman was Ichabod Marcy born at the foot of Frizzell Hill in 1811. After attending the "little red schoolhouse" two months each year during his grammar school days, he was apprenticed to a hatmaker. Determined to study for the ministry, he prepared for college in Shelburne Falls and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1839. He began preach- ing in the Leyden area in 1841 and was active in his chosen field until his death in 1899. Marcy's ministerial career is typical of the hill town clergy of this period.
Oddly enough, the two Leyden men who became best known in the world were not mentioned in any of the centen- nial addresses! Neither the space theorist, John L. Riddell, nor sculptor, Henry K. Brown, received any recognition at the "Fall Town" jubilee, probably because their work had taken them so far afield.
Latter Days of H. K. Brown: On his return from Rome, Brown did the unexpected. Instead of hiring a studio and going to work in New York or Boston, he dropped everything and went to live with the Indians in the Northwest Territory. He explained he wished "to purge himself of surface influences of the Euro- pean school - to get down to the grass roots of American culture."
Shortly after his return to the east, he settled in Brooklyn. Here, in a capacious studio, he completed his first large sculp- tural piece - The Indian and Panther, a beautifully executed monument depicting early American life in the "whole" state. After completion of the Indian and Panther, he got to work on what was to be his masterpiece - the Washington Equestrian
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statue said by experts to be "a pattern and guide to the pro- fession for all time to come." The original of this work stands today in Union Square, New York City. A replica was presented to West Point Military Academy in 1915. (See Frontispiece.) The original is the first heroic bronze statue ever cast in America.
It was in Brooklyn that H. K. Brown turned out two $20,000 Lincoln statues and a huge monument of General Winfield Scott, cast from cannon used in Mexican War expeditions. It was in his Brooklyn studio, too, that Deerfield artist, George Fuller, studied under Brown. It also was in this studio that Brown painted one of his rare portraits. Here, Richard Catlin Arms, pioneer railway bridge builder, sat for his picture in re- turn for help given Brown in his European art studies.
As early as 1851, Brown was elected to full membership in the National Academy of Art, and from 1859 to 1860 served as U. S. Art Commissioner under President Buchanan.
A short time before the Civil War, Brown removed to New- burg, N. Y., where he built a casting foundry. Here, with his adopted nephew, Henry Bush-Brown, he spent the remainder of his life engaged in sculpture and the breeding of fine horses. Henry Bush-Brown compiled a voluminous manuscript biography of his uncle and painted a portrait of his foster parent. This portrait hangs today in the rooms of the Newburg Historical Society. A bust of the sculptor is in the Hall of American Artists, Gould Memorial Library, New York University.
During his lifetime, Brown made frequent visits to the old homestead in Leyden. Today, though his Cape Cod birthplace is no more, the Brown woodlands have been planted to young evergreen trees by state conservationists as a kind of "Church Woods" memorial to Leyden's great artist.
The Leyden Physicians: With the passing of Dr. Thomas S. Vining, April 12, 1866, the last resident physician of Leyden vanished from the scene. Over one hundred years before this, the first resident physician, Dr. Bolton, is recorded as living in the East Colrain section of Fall Town. On November 23, 1753, he resided near Lot 49 of the Colrain Gore. The second resident physician was Dr. Polycarpus Cushman who settled in the east part of Fall Town in 1772. Two years later, he married Rachael Field, sister of Leyden's Irene Field Newcomb. Cushman was of full Puritan descent. His pilgrim ancestor, Robert Cushman, was a member of Pastor Robinson's church in Leiden, Holland.
The first reference to Fall Town medical matters appears in
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the 1771 records where it is proposed "to pay for Mr. Peat's sickness while he was ill with small pox." A bit later, another reference to small pox turns up when the question of inoculation against the disease is raised. This was twenty years before William Jenner perfected his small pox vaccine in England.
Dr. Benjamin Morgan appears as Leyden's initial resident doctor. His name first appears on the records March 3, 1785 when a son was born to his wife, Hannah. Morgan lived on the east side of Beaver Meadow. He was William Dorril's physician and "near neighbor." Morgan is quoted as saying that Dorril never was ill, but that his growing family needed doctoring occasionally. In 1799, Morgan's house was valued at a modest $30! In 1820, he deeded this house and 40 acres of land to his son, Daniel. The good doctor then vanished from the stage of history. The only other Leyden physician of the 18th century is listed as Theodore Shepherd, M. D. who practiced in Leyden during the early 1790's.
Leyden physicians of the early 19th Century include: Dr. Henry Niles (1826); Dr. Eli Wing (1827); Dr. Flint; Dr. Edwin Haynes; and Dr. Samuel Stearns, son of Dorrilite, Charles Stearns. The outstanding doctor of this period was Willard A. Wilkins, graduate of Vermont Medical College in 1831. He was Leyden's town clerk and treasurer in 1833, and in 1845 spon- sored the Leyden Glen Academy.
In the mid 19th Century, Doctors John Quincy Adams Packer and H. W. Wells represented the medical profession in Leyden, while William and Charles Severance, both from Leyden, be- came prominent physicians in nearby communities. Dr. Leonard Morgan, a descendant of Dr. Benjamin Morgan, removed to Atlanta, Georgia, where he died in 1872, according to Dr. Lawrence R. Dame, medical historian of the Leyden area.
Dr. Thomas S. Vining resided in Leyden Center as early as 1857. Here he not only tended the sick, but acted as postmaster until his death in 1866. After this time, Leyden depended on physicians from neighboring towns. Though Greenfield doctors charged only one shilling for Greenfield visits, their fee was 5 shillings, or nearly $1.25 for Leyden calls. Though this is only about a tenth the charge of today, it was considered a high price 100 years ago. Hence, it behooved the Leyden townsfolk to so regulate their lives that they kept well. Apparently they did. One physician wrote at this time there was so little sickness
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