USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Leyden > History of Leyden, Massachusetts, 1676-1959 > Part 16
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The Lance-leaved Grape Fern and Oak Fern are perhaps the most unusual thus far found in Leyden. Fern hunters also should be on the look-out for Maidenhair Spleenwort near rocky woodland brooks, Ebony Spleenwort on rocky ledges and the Walking Fern, near moist, sunny ledges. The Crested Shield Fern, found in swampy areas in Bernardston, also should grow in Leyden.
The Mosses and Grasses of Leyden: Sphagnum is perhaps the most useful and interesting moss growing in Leyden. It grows in thick layers on Frizzell Hill swamp and is found in other swampy areas of Leyden. This moss is used by florists when packing plants; it is also used by surgeons in dressing wounds. Other Leyden mosses include: "Red Soldier Moss," Deer Moss and the bright green liverworts which grow in spark- ling clear pools in the brook northwest of "Blueberry Hill."
Grasses in the Spring and Summer fields of Leyden include
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Sweet Vernal, the earliest grass to bloom; Kentucky Blue Grass; Reed Canary Grass; Slender Sedge; Meadow Bulrush; Orchard Grass; Blue Joint Grass; White-grained Mountain Rice; Yard Rush; Timothy Grass; Panic Grass; Pond Sedge; Meadow Fox- tail; Yellow Foxtail; Carex Mirabilis Sedge; Bog Rush; Cotton Grass; Meadow Muhlenbergia; Crab Grass; Fox Sedge. Many other grasses, especially sedges, may be found in Leyden by the alert observer.
The Wild Flowers of Leyden: Though no complete survey of Leyden's wild flowers has been made, Masha Arms reports over 55 species found on the old Newcomb homestead. Among the more unusual wild flowers growing in Leyden are: Water Avens, Dutchman's Breeches, Wild Indigo, Mountain Fringe, Wild Gin- ger, Yellow Orchid, Fringed Gentian, Showy Orchis, Wild Blue Lupine, Pink Azalea, Blue Cohosh, Gold Thread; pink, orchid white and three shades of Blue Hepatica.
Elizabeth (Howes) Siano, who early in life made a special study of Leyden's wild flowers, particularly the violets, con- tributes the following unusual list: Candian Violet, Long-spurred Violet, Lance-leaved Violet, Selkirk's Great-spurred Violet, Marsh Blue Violet, Woolly and Ovate-leaved Violet, Large-leaved White Violet, Smooth Yellow Violet, Small Yellow Violet.
Mayflowers of great size and wonderful fragrance were found in abundance by George Brown of Leyden on the southern slopes of Blueberry Hill until 1950, when over cultivation inter- ferred with their growth.
The Shrubs and Bushes of Leyden: Shad, the first flowering bush of the Spring is a familiar sight on Leyden's hillsides, even before the leaves open on the trees. It is not commonly known that this bush derived its name from the fact that it always blossomed at the time the shad fish swarmed up the Connecti- cut River - in such numbers, goes the Yankee tale, "that a man could cross the river on their backs."
Other well-known Leyden shrubs are: Viburnum, Elderberry, High Bush Blueberry, Juniper and Black Alder. The latter is found in swampy, open spots loaded with bright, red berries about Christmas time. Witch Hazel, which blooms in the Fall, also grows in Leyden. Chokecherry, another common Leyden bush, is a favorite with birds and bears. It is used as a Jacob's Ladder by the decorative Bittersweet Vine. Most unusual of Leyden's shrubs is a reddish-pink laurel which grows in pro- fusion on the south and southeast slopes of Frizzell Hill.
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There are many wild roses in Leyden. The fine old pastures produce sweet-scented Eglantine and the extremely beautiful and fragrant Sweetbriar Rose. Several Leyden residents recent- ly have set out hedges of Chinese Multi-flora Rose. This bush not only serves as a formidable fence, but in June is heavy with delicate pink and white blossoms. In the Fall and Winter, its red berries provide food for the wild birds. The berries also make cheerful holiday decorations.
Perhaps the most unique bush in Leyden is the huge Japan- ese Lilac on the north side of the old Newcomb homestead. The circumference of the main branch of this bush is over 29 inches. It is probably the largest lilac in the Northeast.
The Wild Birds of Leyden: Shortly after the advent of the H-bomb, when people did not know when they went to bed if anything would be left of them or the landscape should they wake up, there was an upsurge of interest in nature. It was a kind of subconscious withdrawal from a spiritually sterile science toward wholeness and purity. Bird columns appeared in the daily press; bird clubs sprang up all over the country and scores of new nature books flooded the market. Many songs, with bird themes, glided down the nation's radio waves.
It was in 1951 that we conducted the first systematic survey of the bird life in Leyden. Many interesting facts were dis- covered pertaining to the resident, nesting and migrating birds of the area.
Since birds, like trees and wild flowers, were here on earth long before man came on the scene, these early forms of life constitute a definite place in Leyden's history (or in any town's history) and are given in detail below.
We list first the birds which live in Leyden's woods and fields the year around. These birds are probably familiar to everyone:
1. Black-capped Chickadee 9. Pileated Woodpecker
2. Blue Jay
10. Ruffed Grouse
3. Starling 11. Ring-necked Pheasant
4. English Sparrow 12. White-breasted Nuthatch
5. Crow 13. Purple or Rosy Finch
6. Rock or Barn Dove 14. Cedar Waxwing
7. Downy Woodpecker 15. Barred Owl
8. Hairy Woodpecker 16. Great Horned Owl
From an actual list of Spring birds migrating from the South and nesting in the Leyden area, the following Leyden birds (on record in the American Museum of Natural History)
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are given in the general order in which they appear singing in Leyden's hills:
March
1. Junco
2. Red-wing Blackbird
3. Robin
4. Bluebird
May
41. Northern Water-Thrush
42. Oven-bird
43. Blackburnian Warbler
44. Chestnut-sided Warbler
45. Baltimore Oriole
46. Bobolink
47. Veery
48. Kingbird
49. Chimney Swift
50. Black-throated Blue W'bler
51. Crested Flycatcher
52. Great Blue Heron
53. Wood Thrush
54. Canada Warbler
55. Scarlet Tanager
56. Grasshopper Sparrow
57. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
58. Yellow-throat
59. Red-eyed Vireo
60. House Wren
61. Screech Owl
62. Cliff Swallow
63. Warbling Vireo
64. Redstart
65. Yellow Warbler
66. Least Flycatcher
67. Alder Flycatcher
68. Ruby-throated Humming-
bird
33. Hermit Thrush
69. Whip-poor-will
70. Black-billed Cuckoo
71. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
72. Wood Pewee
73. Indigio Bunting
The Spring migrants, those birds which pass through Ley- den on the way north from Florida, Central and South America, include the following:
1. Canada Geese
11. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
12. Parula Warbler
3. Pigeon Hawk 13. Magnolia Warbler
4. Brown Creeper 14. Olive-backed Thrush
5. Rusty Blackbird 15. Winter Wren
6. American Pipit 16. Olive-sided Flycatcher
7. Pine Siskin 17. White-crowned Sparrow
8. Fox Sparrow 18. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
9. Yellow Palm Warbler 19. Black-poll Warbler
10. Sharp-shinned Hawk
37. Nashville Warbler
38. Louisiana Water-Thrush
39. Barn Swallow
40. Catbird
5. Song Sparrow
6. Red-shouldered Hawk
7. Grackle
8. Meadowlark
9. Phoebe
10. Killdeer
11. Mourning Dove
12. Wilson's Snipe April
13. Cowbird
14. Marsh Hawk
15. Flicker
16. Kingfisher
17. Vesper Sparrow
18. Savannah Sparrow
19. Chipping Sparrow
20. Field Sparrow
21. Swamp Sparrow
22. Broad-winged Hawk
23. Tree Swallow
24. Towhee (Chebec)
25. Goldfinch
26. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
27. Myrtle Warbler
28. Pine Warbler
29. Nighthawk
30. Sparrow Hawk
31. Brown Thrasher
32. White-throated Sparrow
34. Blue-headed Vireo
35. Black and White Warbler
36. Black-throated Green Warbler
2. Snow Geese
20. Bay-breasted Warbler
Certain birds which pass through Leyden in the Fall after nesting in the northlands include species not seen at any other
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time of year. These birds, particularly the Warblers, seek shelter in corn fields bordering thickets or swampy spots. The insects which hover near the corn, and the juicy berries in the thickets, attract such birds. It is not commonly known that warblers sometimes eat berries to "balance" their insect diet.
The Leyden Fall migrants are:
1. Cape May Warbler
2. Wilson's Warbler
3. Tennessee Warbler 7. Migrant Shrike
4. Mourning Warbler
5. Philadelphia Vireo
6. Lincoln's Sparrow
8. Magnolia Warbler
Arctic birds which breed in the Far North but sometimes fly as far south as Leyden in Winter months are interesting because of their "Esquimo" nature. Such birds, especially the northern sparrows, buntings and finches feed on the seed of the evening primrose if left to grow about garden borders in Summer.
The Winter migrants follow:
1. Red-breasted Nuthatch 7. Northern Horned Lark
2. Golden-crowned Kinglet
8. Pine Grosbeak
3. Tree Sparrow 9. Northern Shrike
4. Evening Grosbeak 10. Rough-legged Hawk
5. Snow Bunting
11. Lapland Longspur
6. Redpoll
12. Snowy Owl
J
Looking back on records of unusual migrant birds seen in Leyden, perhaps the singing Winter Wren was most memorable. As a rule, this bird nests in the dark evergreen glens of the White and Green Mountains, but early one Spring morning in 1952, one of these birds was heard singing on Eden Trail. Its song, ranked as one of the most beautiful in nature, once heard, is never forgotten. It is long-sustained, extremely melodious and high-pitched - with a kind of piccolo quality. It is ex- tremely loud considering the size of the tiny 4-inch bird.
On Leyden's Florida Mountain "annex" an unusual chorus of bird songs was heard in 1953 when an Olive-backed Thrush, a Wood Thrush, a Veery and a Hermit Thrush were singing near the Florida church.
Two unique Leyden bird-nesting records should be men- tioned here. A Pine Siskin, after feeding all Winter on millet, in the Spring began picking up dust fluff near its feeding board, and flying off to nearby pine woods. This bird, with its mate, completed a nest, but like the Winter Wren, disappeared north- ward when hot weather set in. In pre-nesting operations, a Red- Breasted Nuthatch was seen flirting with its mate, feeding and pampering her near Frizzell Hill. But he, too, vanished late in
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May, presumably to habitual breeding grounds farther north.
Stray birds, driven off course by storm, or lured astray by wanderlust, sometimes appear in Leyden. One fine June day in 1952 a southern Turkey Vulture cruised over Leyden's hills. A young Red-headed Woodpecker, never before seen in Ley- den, was seen investigating insect possibilities on fence posts in September, 1954. That same year, a sparrow, with solid white crown, appeared out of nowhere, then vanished as sud- denly. No such bird is listed in any ornithology. Another curious Leyden stray was a pigeon-like bird with a cobalt blue crown and curious striped head markings. No one could identify this bird - even the Audubon Society gave up!
At Christmas-time in 1952, Leyden contributed the first bird list for the "Christmas Count" catalogue. This report ap- peared in the official register of the National Audubon Society. Unfortunately, the Snowy Owl, seen by Louis Black of Leyden some years before, did not appear for the 1952 year-end bird census.
Often, when the snow is deep and all terrestrial life is still, we hear, high in the blue, the calls of the winter birds, but do not know their names. To become better acquainted with these birds from the Far North - to know their calls - is to become closer to their freedom and beauty. The Pine Grosbeak, for instance, a robin-sized, rosy-breasted northerner, cries "tee-tee- two" as he dips in undulating flight high in the cold, blue air. The Redpoll has a distinctive flight note much like the summer Goldfinch; the Snow Bunting has its flight note; so does the lark, and all the rest of the birds of the Winter sky.
Before closing this bird section we should like to add a plea to householders not to cut or burn brush during the bird- nesting season which runs from mid-May to July. Also to be discouraged, is insecticide spraying over wide areas in Sum- mer. According to the Rural New Yorker and Journal of Applied Nutrition such spraying kills insects which help pollinate the farmer's crops, and destroys much natural bird food. When nesting parent birds go elsewhere for provender, young birds are left to starve. The Vesper Sparrow, once active in Leyden's pastures, disappeared after the first aerial spraying.
We have a rare heritage in our wild birds. They not only are of value because of their aesthetic qualities but they also are of great service to the farmer in ridding crops of harmful insects. To attract birds to our dooryards and fields, experts
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suggest we plant elder, lespedesa, multiflora and wild prim- rose to give them shelter and food. Bird baths set in the kitchen garden during hot weather will attract many feathered friends. A deep plate, with a rough, flat stone inserted, if filled with water, often serves the purpose.
In Winter, Chickadees are easy to attract with sunflower seeds. They will feed from one's hand, sit on the shoulder - sometimes even take seeds from one's lips!
But our birds are more than seed eaters; more than pest destroyers; more than pets. If one listens to a nearby Hermit Thrush or a singing Winter Wren - one knows, then, what the other value is.
The Wild Animals and Reptiles of Leyden: Perhaps the most colorful of Leyden's animals is the Beaver which makes its home in the western part of the town. Here, on a never-failing brook, he has constructed an intricate dam which attracts nature lovers from miles around. Though Beaver Meadow was once the rendezvous of many of these curious animals, and parts of their dams still are visible there, so rare is the beaver today his works are well protected in Leyden. Hence, the beaver dam in West Leyden, though it causes flooding of the main highway nearby, remains undisturbed.
Other colorful animals which appear occasionally in Ley- den include the Brown Bear whose presence is evidenced some- times by small heaps of apples piled up under fall fruit trees. The Wild Cat, whose ear-splitting screams are often heard in the dead of night, is not uncommon in Leyden. The Red Fox, too, is a frequent night-prowler.
Deer, of course, are quite plentiful. Sometimes one may be so fortunate as to see a buck and doe with young feeding peacefully in green pasture or nearby field.
Coons are quite plentiful in Leyden as are grey and red squirrels, chipmunks and weasels. And of course Leyden has its share of porcupines, woodchucks and pole cats. Odd mice, including the Alpine Mouse, Deer Mouse and a mouse with a tail over a foot long, also live in Leyden.
It is said that along the steep, sunny ledges near Green River there was once a large colony of "rattlers." The story goes that descendants of renegade William Dorril sought out and exterminated these rattlers when the reptiles slithered up nearby trees during a forest fire. The hideout of these "Eden" invaders was known as "Rattlesnake's Den."
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Today, Leyden's only large reptiles are found near the swamp on Frizzell Hill where in April they feed on the swamp's abundant frog life. They then lie for days in the warm sun digesting their Spring feast. One such black dozer was acci- dentally stepped upon by the author who was scanning nearby woods for migrant warblers. Happily, the reptile was so drowsy and the intruder so agile neither suffered from the incident. This snake was, without exaggeration, six feet long and four inches thick. Aside from such black monsters, Leyden produces the standard green, brown and yellow-striped water snakes. There are no known noxious reptiles in Leyden today.
The Wild Indians of Leyden: Though the original land- holders in Leyden's hills were Indians, there is little evidence to prove that the aborigines tarried here except during Fall hunt- ing excursions, or when on the warpath. Many of Leyden's early roads were laid out on these "war paths" with one spur of the Mohawk Trail passing through the town toward the Connecticut River. This path was doubtless the same which the 1704 cap- tives from Deerfield trod through southeastern Leyden to the Couch Brook gorge.
The route of the Alexander Road also is said to have been laid out on an old Indian trail. Near this road, are two mysteri- ous burying places. Both have Indian background stories. The first burial plot is a walled enclosure with a single unmarked stone in the center. It is north of the present Richard Campbell place on lands owned earlier by Edward Denison.
History records that this same Edward Denison married in 1790, "Rhuhama" an Indian maiden of high birth. It is very likely, therefore, that "Rhuhama" was buried within the stone enclosure because of her Indian status.
The second stone marker near the Alexander Road is in the woods southeast of the old Alexander place. It was near this spot that the last Leyden Indian was killed by white men. The lonely stone may well mark the grave of the unfortunate redskin.
Today, many leading New England families can trace back proudly to Indian ancestry. Besides the Denison marriage to "Rhuhama," we know of a number of similar marriages in the Leyden area. These involve the Plum, Pratt, Franklin and Car- penter families.
Indian artifacts are not common in Leyden. Unlike the rich Indian hunting grounds of Deerfield where pottery sherds were
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found near "Fort Hill" as recently as 1956, the hills of Leyden rarely give up more than a stray arrowhead or flint chip. Un- usual was the recent finding of a tomahawk by Betty Lee Potter near Green River. Interesting colonial artifacts which may have been taken from scalped white men during the Indian wars and lost by Indians near their camp fires, include an iron smoking pipe twelve inches long with a small cast-iron bowl found on the Asher Corse place by Hart Larabee when follow- ing his father's plow. A second such artifact is an 18th Century link-button with hand-drawn design found near an Indian camp- fire site on the Newcomb homestead. This button was so unusual neither the Essex nor the Smithsonian Institute could identify it.
After the French and Indian wars, the Indians became friendly with the white settlers - if they were treated kindly; but if they were hurt or tricked, they reciprocated. As time went on, however, the Red Man sank farther and farther from sight. In the early 1930's, the last Leyden Indian who lived in a lone cabin on a western hill, passed forever from the scene.
The Trees of Leyden: As early as 1823, Leyden took part in a conservation program. On Tuesday, April 1 of that year, Abel Perry, son of Leyden pioneer John Perry, ran the following ad- vertisement in the Greenfield Franklin Gazette: "Farm for Sale ... set over with Chestnut, Beech and Maple." Here was a man far ahead of his time. Though conservation practices today are not so wide-spread in Leyden as one might hope, the following men are known to have set out trees either as "Tree Farms" or for conservation purposes: Charles Bolton, Red Pines; Charles Erhardt, mixed pines; Robert Harris, mixed evergreens; Louis Muka, locust and mixed evergreens; M. and W. Arms, red and white pine; State of Massachusetts, spruce and white pine.
There are very few virgin trees remaining in Leyden. On the Alexander Road is a huge "candelabra" Elm, some 20 feet in circumference and at least 200 years old. In the woods north- west of Frizzell Hill is a great weather-worn Chestnut 30 feet in circumference. (Though this tree has long been dead, Mr. Muka reports that in 1957 he had a live Chestnut on his place with 50 burrs.) A third large tree, is a huge White Oak near the granite quarry below Frizzell Hill; another is the big Indian Tamarack at the head of Page Road on the Shivitz farm. A large Brittle Willow (the type from which Pilgrims made baskets) hung gracefully over East Hill Road until recently when the main branches were cut. Experts estimate the age of the trunk as over
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150 years. This willow is phenomenal in that it grows on un- usually high ground for the species, yet it is the first tree in the neighborhood to leaf out in the Spring and the last to shed its leaves in the Fall. Such beauty, it seems to us, transcends any possible traffic annoyance.
The Conifers or Evergreen Trees of Leyden:
1. Red Spruce
2. Black Spruce
3. Fir Balsam
4. Red Cedar
5. Canadian Hemlock
6. White Pine
7. Red Pine (introduced)
8. Tamarack (semi-evergreen)
The Deciduous Trees of Leyden:
1. Rock or Sugar Maple
2. Red Maple
3. Mountain Maple
18. Butternut
19. Bird Cherry
20. Black Cherry
21. Aspen (Poplar)
22. Large-Toothed Aspen
23. Ironwood (Blue Beech)
24. Mountain Ash
25. White Ash
26. Locust
27. Tupelo (Dyer)
28. Common Sumac
14. Staghorn Sumac
15. Brittle Willow
16. Weeping Willow
17. Basswood (Linden)
4. Striped Maple
5. White Oak
6. Chestnut Oak
7. Chestnut
8. Beech
9. White Birch
10. Yellow Birch
11. Black Birch
12. Grey Birch
13. Wild Apple
29. American Elm
30. Sassafras (Dobias)
In the Spring of 1957, the Leyden "Church Woods" plan was introduced throughout New England by the Associated Press. This was a move to encourage the preservation of small woodland areas not only in Leyden but throughout the country. It operated on a purely voluntary basis without affiliation with any state or federal conservation organization. It recommended that woodland owners set aside small areas to serve as per- manent sanctuaries for all wildlife.
The name, "Church Woods" stems directly from Leyden's earliest history. As we have noted, early churchgoers of Ley- den, having no place in which to worship, went into the tall, virgin forests to pay tribute to God. It was with this in mind that the name, "Church Woods" was adopted for the woodland sanctuaries. Leyden was a fitting place to initiate such an idea, since the name Leyden itself suggests sanctuary or refuge.
The Associated Press article which introduced the Church Woods plan listed appropriate sites for the sanctuaries as "rocky, forested mountain tops, wooded swamps, spruce-grow- ing islands, areas along mountain brooks, historic mine sites,
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sections of pioneer woodland roads and the "mission" sites of the long-lost Culdee monks."
Response to the Leyden "Church Woods" plan was en- couraging from the start. Cooperative remarks came from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont. Nature Magazine promised "commendation and support of the plan" and ran an article on the subject in the October 1957 issue. Reader's Digest editors responded interestedly to the "Church Woods" idea and sent best wishes for its success. A Connecticut professor took the "Church Woods" idea back to Ohio's Antioch College. The Christian Science Monitor ran the "Church Woods" story in a 250,000 edition. The Bulletin of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature ran an item on "Church Woods" in the December 1957 Brussels issue.
Not long ago, Walter S. Baker died in a valiant attempt to save his Leyden "Church Woods" from a nearby forest fire. Since that time, several of Leyden's leading citizens have volun- teered to set off land for "Church Woods." Artists of the town already are working on appropriate posters to mark off these sites.
In ancient mythology, the tree symbolized man's wholeness or spiritual perfection, and anyone who brought down a beauti- ful tree, wantonly, reduced his spiritual stature. New England's great naturalist, Henry David Thoreau, carries out the idea of the spiritual significance of trees when he writes: "A beautiful tree is as immortal as I and perhaps will go to as high a Heaven - there to tower above me still!" California's giant, John Muir, were he asked to comment on the "Church Woods" plan, would doubtless echo his alpine words: "Great is the manly, treely sacrifice!"
Leyden Arts and Crafts of Yesterday and Today: The men of old, it seems, were close to the wholeness of nature and reflected this wholeness in their everyday works. With little time for extracurricular artistry, the hardy Leyden pioneers put artistic expression into the building of a stone wall; the erection of a Cape Cod home; the making of a fireplace chinked with blue clay; the inscription of a gravestone.
Today, however, the picture has changed, and with more leisure time at their disposal, the people of Leyden, in the wake of the post-war "renaissance," are producing excellent artistic work, some of which has won distinction in the art galleries of New York and Boston. The best work reflects a "Church Woods"
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sensitivity to the wholeness and purity of nature - a goal which all objective artists might well seek.
In mid-summer, 1957, an exhibition by four Leyden artists was staged on the lawn of the Arthur Howes home in a beautiful natural setting. The following year this show was extended to include the arts and crafts of additional Leyden residents. In 1959, as part of the sesquicentennial celebration, an "all-in- clusive" Leyden show featured artistic work from over 85% of the townspeople. The unique exhibit was held in the Town Hall and was the largest of its kind ever staged in the area.
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