USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > New Marlborough > History of New Marlborough : 1735-1944 > Part 4
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Drew, John
Dawson, George
Daily, Thomas E.
Brocha, Stephen Burdock, Joseph Barter, Richard Benton, Edward Bailey, Charles Bourne, Josiah Brewer, Samuel Bell, George
Cronk, Joseph C. Capen, George P. Cadwell, Almon Carriel, Henry M. Collins, Thomas Clark, Wilbur J. Cary, Thomas Chapin, George B. Carmon, Benjamin Campbell, David
Carter, Rendon D.
Brace, Henry
Clark, Henry
Brannen, Luke Booth, Edwin L. Britt, Alonzo
Carman, Edward H. Clark, James Campbell, Edw. W. Cook, Lewis A.
Carroll, Edward, Jr. Carman, Benjamin Clark, James Callaghan, Dennis
Ahern, John
Canfield, Marcus
Conklin, Alonzo W.
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
Dougherty, Patric
Kanz, Ferdinand
Stanard, Levi M.
Erivirus, Elwyn -
Knapp, Adoniranı
Stanard, Edward
Fargo, Albert F.
Lacey, Edward
Sackett, Trelarone
Foley, Dennis Fogerty, William
Lambert, Frederick
Sisson, Henry D. . Smith, Alva
Fitzgerald, Timothy
McCormic, James
Flannery, David
Morin, Michael Maxwell, Wm.
Sheldon, Gilbert L.
Gleason, Edwin
Murray, Horatio
Scriber, Henry C.
Gleason, Buell
Mahoney, James
Stafford, Joseph
Gleason, Milo
Mambert, Peter
Smith, Nicholas
Granger, Salmon
Moreton, David
Sheehan, Timothy
Galoin, Dennis
Moody, Dennis
Sweeney, Charles
Gleason, Edw. B.
Moran, Thomas
Tubbs, John Taylor, Jonas
Hallahar, James
McCarty, Michael
Turgeon, Charles
Hecox, James
Menot, John F.
Turner, George
Heysick, John
Norton, E. W.
VanDeusen, Henry
Huntley, Joseph W.
Norton, Gaylord S.
Warner, John J.
Hecox, Wm.
Nichols, Charles H.
Warner, George
Howe, Horner W.
Ostrom, Joseph O.
Warner, Henry
Hecox, George W.
O'Connor, Daniel
Warner, Alfred
Hall, John A.
Potter, John E.
Warner, William
Hyde, Henry D.
Palmer, Henry
Willet, George
Harford, Nicholas
Palmer, Geo. W.
Wheelock, William
Hollister, Gilbert
Powell, Stephen
Williams, Chas. H.
Hennesey, Wm.
Parmelee, Homer
Wood, Joseph H.
Hickey, James
Rhoades, Henry D.
Ward, Jabez C.
Hanley, John S. Hutchinson, Mel. S. Harvey, Samuel
Rhoades, Christ'ph'r Rising, E. J.
Webster, Seth R.
Heavers, Thomas
Rockford, Thomas
Warner, William
Hanson, Robert M.
Robinson, Charles
Watkins, Samuel
Jackson, Wm. H.
Rees, Benjamin
Whitemore, Thos.
Jordan, Michael
Reed, Thomas
Walsh, John
Wilcox, Chas. H.
Williams, Benjamin
Wilcox, H. L.
Keyes, Lorin P.
Woodworth, Erastus
Kelly, James C.
Smith, Edward H.
Waters, John T.
Kelly, John
Shores, John W.
Dana, Wright
Kelly, Wm.
Stanard, Valentine
Welch, William
Stanard, Arlington
Warner, Henry E.
Reid, Edwin R.
Wheeler, George
Knapp, Nelson E. Knapp, Isaac M. Keyes, Marshall Keyes, Henry
Richardson, Charles Reading, George G.
Stannard, Wm. M. Smith, Benj. W. F. Sage, Elisha P.
Windell, John
Mrs. Fannie Richardson, great grand-daughter of Samuel Catlin (who was postmaster for forty years in the early days of
Gardner, George
Mitchell, John
Sage, George Stanard, David H.
Fellowes, George
Logan, Harmon
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
the town) bears the distinction of being the one who first put flags on the graves of soldiers of the Civil War. "This was at Knoxville, Tennessee, the beautiful custom spreading from that beginning, all over the country."
THE TOWN IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
True to her traditions of the past, New Marlborough assum- ed her responsibilities in World War I, and from her population of about nine hundred people, a good percentage responded for the service. After the close of the war, a memorial monument was erected upon the lawn of the library in Mill River village, carrying a bronze tablet, upon which are cast the following names:
* John J. O'Brien
Herbert L. Call
Ronald B. Kair Frank Emprimo
Floyd W. Canfield William J. Murray
John H. Humes William McVey
Albert F. Hoag Waldo H. Whitney
William E. Kair John W. Ullman
Savric Lebate
James W. Carroll
David J. McAuliffe
Dudley S. Turner
Claude Sleep
Antonia Bianchi
Paul C. Stalker
Wallace W. Hall
Hadley K. Turner
* Donald Beers
* Robert C. Sellew
The name of William Cunningham, who made a splendid record in the service, was inadvertently omitted from the plate on the monument through some unaccountable error in making the bronze tablet.
NEW MARLBOROUGH IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR
The following is an official list of names of men in the armed services of the United States, World War II, to whom the com- bined churches have sent pocket-size New Testaments, with an attempt to list their rating. Undoubtedly there will be many mistakes, as, in many cases, we are obliged to rely on statements . of service men's friends:
Alexander, Pfc. Francis Bailey, Frank E.
Amsted, Vernon Bailey, Cpl. Frank H.
42 HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
Bailey, Cpl. Sheriden
Johnston, Andrew
Bailey, Ross E., Jr.
Knight, C. Raymond (dis.)
Beers, Sgt. Henry A.
Losaw, Pfc. David
Brazie, Pfc. Maurice
„Hastedt, Fred, Jr.
Brazie, Lawrence
Hastedt, William
Barlow, Ellsworth
Benton, Cpl. Chauncey
Maxwell, Cpl. Harold Mead, Clarence (dis.)
Buckson, Cpl. Maxim
Miller, June Mott, Lt. Donald
Carr, Cdt. Byron
Nielson, Willard
Chaffee, Benjamin
Nelson, Sgt. Arthur
Chamberlain, Glendon (dis.)
Ostrowski, Leon
Crine, Sgt. Harold
Phillips, Capt. Herbert L.
Cruikshank, Sgt. Donald
Pratt, Roger
Dinan, MM1|c Alton
Rooney, Pfc. John
Dinan, Pfc. John
Rood, Sgt. Francis
Daley, 1st Sgt. Joseph
Rood, Pfc. Harold
Daley, Cpl. Eugene .
Rowley, Merritt
Devine, Capt. Charles R.
Ranolde, Pfc. Paul
Dow, John
Stevens, MM2|c Alfred
Dribben, Lt. Cmdr. Seymour
Stevens, Sgt. Myles
Dunham, S1|c Ernest S.
Sellew, 2nd Lt. Welles
Dunham, AS Herbert A.
Schmulsky, Alex
Dyer, 2nd Lt. John F.
Skee, Peter
Emprimo, Pfc. Francis
Stalker, Ronald (dis.)
Emmons, Roger
Skjestad, Emil (dis.)
Fitzpatrick, Cpl. Francis
Stalker, Tech. Sgt. Homer
Fitzpatrick, Cpl. Joseph
Stephenson, Cpl. Laurence
Fitzpatrick, Thomas
Stephenson, Cdt. Charles R.
Fay, Pfc. George
Turner, Capt. Dudley S.
Forrest, Gilbert
Turner, Pfc. Julius
Goewey, Cpl. Ralph
Washalaski, Pfc. Steve
Goewey, Cpl. Everett
Washalaski, Pfc. John
Hall, Pfc. Philip
Whitney, Cdt. Roger A.
. Hart, Pfc. Ernest
Whitney, Cdt. Hilton I. (dis.)
Hart, Wilbur, Jr.
Wing, Tech. Sgt. Charles
Hotchkiss, Po3|c John
Wing, John (Mer. Marine)
Johnston, Ist Lt. William
*Wing, Lieut. Lucius
Johnston, Pfc. Robert Zerbe, Arthur
Johnston, Francis
Zucco, Sgt. Peter
*Died of wounds received in action in Europe.
Note: Names listed without rating when rating was not known.
Brennan, George
Marion, Pfc. George
Buckson, William
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
NEW MARLBOROUGH STATE GUARD (July 25, 1944)
The local company of State Guard was formed as a reserve company December 16, 1941, with Second Lieutenant Ernest C. Benway as commanding officer.
April 2, 1942, it was made a regular company.
December 1, 1943, the State Guard was brought under the direction of the U. S. Army. The Lee, Lenox, Egremont, Great Barrington, and New Marlborough companies were formed into the Fourth Battalion of the 22nd Infantry. The New Marl- borough company was designated Headquarters Detachment of the 4th Batalion.
LIST OF MEMBERS
Major Sheldon C. Collins
Pvt. Arthur Bachetti
ist Lt. Ernest C. Benway
Pvt. Arthur Barnum
2nd Lt. Clarence Nichols Pvt. Raymond Bush
ist Sgt. William Stevens Pvt. Rufus Brackley
Sgt. Maj. Roderick MacLean
Pvt. Robert Chapin
S. Sgt. A. L. Terry Pvt. Robert Everett .
Sgt. Richard Battistoni
Pvt. Arthur Hastedt
Sgt. Sheldon Fenn
Pvt. Walter Hart
Sgt. Robert Lindstrom
Pvt. Arthur Hebert
Sgt. Clifford Love
Pvt. Ward Hewins
Corp. Henry Andrews
Pvt. James Oates
Corp. Roland Brewer
Pvt. Ronald Ovitt
Corp. George King
Corp. William Hall
Corp. Melville Fuller
Pvt. Lewis Rote
Pfc. Donald Amstead
Pvt. Hadley Stalker
Pfc. Harold Greene
Pvt. Arthur White
Pfc. Richard Stalker
Pvt. Kenneth Warner
Pfc. Robert E .Thompson
Pvt. Geoffrey Prentiss
Pvt. Frank Rood
Drills are held each Wednesday night from 8:00 to 10:00 o'clock, at the town hall in Mill River. Visitors are welcome.
NEW MARLBOROUGH INDUSTRIES
Of the earliest mills we know very little, except that in 1739 a contract was made with Nathan Ward to build a grist-mill and a saw-mill, which was subsequently built on the "Iron Works (Konkapot) River."
1
44
HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
In 1780 an iron foundry and forge was established just be- low the Nahum Ward saw-mill. Bar iron only was made. The ore was mainly from Salisbury, but some came from the Corashire section of Monterey. Elias Keyes was one of the founders. The forging was done by trip-hammers run by the waterfall of the mill dam.
In 1785 Jedediah Sisson, who was apprenticed a blacksmith in the Ward mill, located a shop and made plows, both with wooden and iron "shares." He also manufactured wagons.
In 1791 Isaac Turner was operating a tannery in Southfield.
We know that about 1831 Elihu Burritt was an apprentice in the brass foundry of Harvey Holmes in New Marlborough village.
In 1855 an historian wrote: "In the western part of New Marlborough a manufacturing village is springing up, called Mill River. It is situated in a long and narrow valley of the Konkapot river. The principal manufactories are paper and lumber. Its distance from the Housatonic Railroad is seven miles. It is the only part of the town which seems to be making a true and steady progress. Western migration is sapping "the old parishes" here as elsewhere, although the town as a whole gains in population. There are three paper mills. Warren Wheeler & Co. employ forty hands, John Cariel & Co. employ twenty hands, and John Carriel employs ten hands. They turn out $87,000 worth of paper annually. In Southfield about $6000 worth of whip-lashes are made yearly, and in the town as a whole about 15,000 casks of lime are sent to market."
In 1880 the population was 1876. In 1876 the population had been 2045, which was probably about the peak.
In 1885 another writer stated that "Mill River has two churches, one hotel, three stores, the town hall, about fifty dwell- ings, and has, within a mile, eight dams with levels varying from seven to twenty-five feet, and aside from this is one of the loveliest villages in Southern Berkshire."
The first paper mill was built in Mill River in 1836 by Wheeler & Gibson. It manufactured writing-paper. Other pa- per manufacturers were Sheldon & Babcock, Crosby & Robbins, John Carroll, Carroll & Goodwin, Beech & Adams, E. C. Brett & Co., Paul Face.
45
HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
The Konkapot river was originally called Iron Works river from a forge for bar iron early established on it. Water power . and charcoal were easily obtained and pig-iron was brought from Salisbury, Connecticut, and ore from Monterey. . Mill River had two fulling mills for homespun cloth in the early days ,and South- field had one. Hats were made in Southfield and also in New Marlborough village. Powder was manufactured in Mill River by Harvey Holmes & Co. in 1833-'34. Tanneries were very com- mon. Near the Sheldon place in New Marlborough village were a tannery and brass foundry. Andirons and other articles for household use were made. John A. Doncaster built a grist-mill in Hartsville in 1804. Hartsville also had a machine shop and foundry. Two miles south of Mill River village Dr. John Sco- ville had a cheese factory in 1859. Henry Sisson became the pro- prietor of a saw-, planing- and pulp-mill in Mill River in 1857.
Other famous mills were those of William B. Gibson in the Huxley district, and that of Chauncey Brewer in Mill River. The Mill River tradition is still carried on by Edwin Stanton and his son, Eldred, in saw-mill and garage.
"In 1866 Orchable Taft established the pottery works in Clayton, which later became the property of Robert L. Taft. The clay which was mined was used in the manufacture of fine pottery and to some extent in the manufacture of paper. It was washed to free it from impurities, then dried, after which it was sent to various parts of the country." (The foregoing was writ- ten in 1885.) Orchable Taft was a relative of President Taft. He carried on the industry for many years. The property was operated by the Berkshire China Clay Corporation. Under the name of the Berkshire White Portland Cement Co. and the direction of Joseph Tinker, the concern was employing about seventy-five men. The drying sheds were over a half mile long. The cement was used in white tile wainscotting, floors, etc., and has sold as high as twelve dollars a barrel. The dried clay was mixed with certain rare lime-stone found in Egremont, then was ground, sifted and dried.
In later days H. L. Barber operated a whip factory in South- field, Arthur C. Lockwood ran a creamery, and for the last fifty- odd years Turner & Cook, Inc., have been turning out rawhide products in Southfield. In Hartsville Edward Whitney has op-
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
erated as a contractor, and A. F. Whitney & Son as blacksmith and auto repair shop. The saw-mill is now operated by Charles E. Wyman.
SOUTH BERKSHIRE INSTITUTE
In June, 1856, Julius Rising,. James Hyde, John Brewer and Edwin Adams were the organizers of a corporation by the name of South Berkshire Institute, for the purpose of establishing a boarding- and day-school for both sexes. The school building was located "contiguous to the very plot upon which the first meeting-house was built; has commodious buildings, spacious grounds, and scenery unsurpassed."
The principal promoter of the school was Edward Stevens of Saratoga, N. Y., a native of New Marlborough. From 1860 to 1870 the school was very successful, having a hundred students. The bell in the cupola of South Berkshire Institute was the gift of Rev. Sylvester Burt, pastor of the Congregational church in Great Barrington.
The Institute began its career in 1857 with J. A. McIntosh, A.M., as principal, assisted by four lady teachers. In 1860 N. W. Metcalf, A.M., became principal. In 1861 B. F. Parsons, A.M., and Mrs. Parsons, became the school heads and stayed until 1782. For a short period the school was closed, but opened in 1876 with Professor S. T. Frost as head, and continued for the next half-dozen years. In 1862 the school had as board of trustees:
Rev. R. T. Searle, president, New Marlborough; The- ron Warner, Esq., vice-president, New Marlborough; Col. James Hyde, vice-president, New Marlborough; J. A. Rising, M.D., secretary, New Marlborough; Rev. Aaron Pickett, Sandisfield; Rev. Otis Lombard, South- field; E. W. B. Canning, Stockbridge; E. R. Stevens, Saratoga Springs, N. Y .; W. C. Langdon, Monterey; Capt. J. S. Catlin, New Marlborough; S. K. Norton, New Marlborough; John Brewer, New Marlborough; C. L. Hartwell, New Marlborough; Jarvis Pike, New Marlborough; Stephen Powell, New Marlborough; Noah Gibson, New Marlborough; J. W. Millard, New Marlborough.
A few years ago the writer stopped in North Colebrook and made the acquaintance of an old man. It turned out that he was
SOUTH BERKSHIRE INSTITUTE
ELIHU BURRITT MONUMENT
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
the grandson of the owner of the old inn there, a Mr. Carrington Phelps of Phelps Tavern, and remembered when the stage-coach from Hartford to Albany stopped at the inn each morning for breakfast for the passengers and for four fresh horses for the next stretch to New Marlborough. Mr. Phelps, the grandson with whom I talked, kindly showed my wife and me the old ball- room in the second story of the old inn, the bar, and many other interesting relics of days long gone by. He said that he had at- tended South Berkshire Institute, and stated that after leaving the Institute and while attending Yale College he became the world's champion "single-sculler," which means that old South Berkshire Institute produced a world's champion boat-man.
ELIHU BURRITT
No story of New. Marlborough would be complete without mention of Elihu Burritt. New Marlborough is proud that "the learned blacksmith" and "apostle of international peace" lived here, learned his trade here and many of the languages with which he was familiar. On New Marlborough village green a monument with bronze plate bears witness of the regard of his townspeople. Burritt came to New Marlborough in 1831 at eighteen years of age. He worked as an apprentice blacksmith in Harvey Holmes' brass foundry. It stood on the Umpachene stream, near a saw-mill and tannery, probably near the eastern end of the village. Burritt fell in love with Miss Elizabeth Shel- don, "the most beautiful girl in the town, and his love was re- turned, but her parents would not allow the marriage." It is said that this episode furnished the stimulation which drove Bur- ritt on to learning his many languages. Although a girl's par- ents might tell their daughter that marriage to a blacksmith was too lowly a step, it would be more difficult to convince her that marriage to a man who could write and speak fifty languages would be too lowly.
Burritt was able to indulge a passion for literature in his spare moments at the forge. The writer's grandfather has spoken of Burritt as standing at his forge, working the bellows with one hand, with a book propped open on the chimney in front of him, from which he would be diligently reading. In this desultory fashion he conquered Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and German,
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
and by the time he was thirty years of age he could speak fifty languages. He gradually acquired fame with his increasing store of knowledge and at last embarked on a lecture tour to various places in the United States and Europe on behalf of peace. He organized "The Friends of Peace" at Brussels, Paris, Frankfort, London, Manchester and Edinburgh. He founded The Christian Citizen at Worcester, a paper to advance his views on peace. He published innumerable pamphlets. He died in New Britain, Conn., his birthplace, in 1879.
Burritt's monument on the green in New Marlborough vil- lage bears this inscription:
1810 - Elihu Burritt - 1879
The Learned Blacksmith, Organizer of the League of Universal Brotherhood. Author of . the "Congress of Nations," Advocate of low ocean freight rates and ocean postage. Following his Trade and Studying at the Forge in New Marlborough, 1831-1833.
The Rev. John C. Brigham, D.D., was born in New Marl- borough in 1794. He graduated at Williams College in 1819 and at Andover in 1822. He was elected Assistant Secretary of the American Bible Society in 1826. He became Secretary in 1828. He also was an agent of the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions, and resided for a time in South America. He distributed the Scriptures in Spanish in Argen- tina, Chili, Peru, Columbia and Mexico.
- Professor Frost wrote some paragraphs which give us a pic- ture of the roads, the stage routes and country taverns. "The present century was well advanced," and by that he meant the nineteenth century, "before the highways were much better than the wood-roads in the forests. They were seldom worked and were often almost impassable. One of the mortars for the (mil- itary) works at West Point was dragged over Blandford Hill by twenty yoke of oxen and sixty men. Much of the traveling was on horseback, more on foot. A family Sabbath scene on the way to church gave a picture like the flight into Egypt; mother and baby riding upon the horse, the able-bodied and unencumbered walking by their side. Loads were moved by oxen and more - easily in winter when the roads were in the best of condition for
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HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
'business and travel. The Guiteaus, (a family which gave to the town a doctor, a deacon and a member of the Provincial Con- gress) moved to the 'far West,' as Central New York was then called, and they made the journey with oxen and sled. The town of Hudson was at that time the Berkshire port of entry. It stood at the head of ship navigation, then a very significant fact, and, as roads improved, it became a famous center and terminus of stage lines." The old ware-houses still stand in Hudson, along the river front.
"The products of farms and dairies were carried to Hudson and the same teams brought back the heavier groceries, such as salt and flour. These were not usually sold at country stores and each family laid in a year's supply for itself. Corn meal and rye flour were then in general use. The amount of travel and freight to the Hudson is shown by the fact that one of the early railroads in the United States was built from Hudson eastward to State Line. About the year 1800 the first wagon came into town, and about fifteen years later came the first one-horse wagon. Country taverns were frequent all along these routes. Many an old house is pointed out as 'once kept for a tavern.' A huge fire- place marks the bar-room and the ball-room can still be recog- nized," generally on the upper floor. "At these 'wayside inns' teamsters and travelers met like the characters in the Canterbury Tales. Around roaring fires they interchanged what would now seem like old news, of events of state and nation weeks and months after they had transpired.
"The first good roads came with the mail stages. A splen- didly-equipped opposition stage line, owning seventy-five horses and nine stages, was established in 1834." (It is not clear what Professor Frost meant by the word "opposition.") "These stages were known as the 'Red Bird Line,' famous all over the United States. The Red Bird Line was originated by Amos Kendall, Postmaster-General under Jackson, and was a part of his design of re-organization of the postal department on a plan which has remained essentially unchanged. The Postmaster-General was a Massachusetts man by birth and was said to have been especially proud of this particular line (Hartford-Albany.) "Old resi- rents yet remember" (1885) "how General (Winfield) Scott, on his way from Hartford to Albany and thence to the Northern
50
HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
Frontier to look after threatened difficulties with England, reach- ed New Marlborough at 4:00 P. M. and passed the night at the old hotel. The general allowed the people to see him from the upper piazza. The Red Bird stage-coaches brought mail one day from Hartford, the next from Albany. Before the advent of this new line, the mail had come but once a week. The highest point on this line from Hartford to Albany is about three miles east of New Marlborough village.
"The mail had, for many years, been carried on horseback. The first postoffice was established September 15th, 1806. The commission from Gideon Granger, Postmaster-General under Jefferson, reads as follows: 'Know ye that confiding in the intel- ligence, ability and punctuality of Stephen Powell, Esq., I do ap- point him Deputy Post Master of New Marlboro.'
"It will be seen that New Marlborough was then decidedly central in position. The great stage-coach lines between Boston and Albany, and Hartford and Albany, met near the north-west border of the town, while the new Red Bird Line, on the latter route, made the village inn its 'midway station.' I suppose this old inn saw many famous characters. We have already referred to General Scott. General Lafayette climbed down from the stage-coach here the night he stayed over-night in the Catlin house (now owned by Mr. Ticknor.) Paul Revere may have been put down there on his visit to the town in order to organize Cincinnatus Chapter of the Lodge of Masons. How many fam- ous people have looked out on the village green from the upper balcony of the 'double piazza' we shall never know."
In front of the inn lies New Marlborough village green. Lawyer O. C. Bidwell of Great Barrington, some time in the year 1909, found an interesting document concerning the early history of New Marlborough. It was a deed of gift to the town by Cin- cinnatus Lodge of Masons, of New Marlborough, of the land in the center of the village, the "village green." The date of the instrument is 1795.
Cincinnatus Lodge, now located in Great Barrington, was chartered and installed by Paul Revere, of "Midnight Ride" fame, in New Marlborough in December, 1795. Among its charter members were Elihu Grant, Benjamin Pierce, Hezekiah Kilbourn, Sylvanus Moss, Obadiah Smith, Moses Hopkins, Zeba-
.
51
HISTORY OF NEW MARLBOROUGH
diah Deane, Walter Deane, Drake Mills, John Shaw, Milo Shaw, Gideon Post, Abel Smith, Noah Church, John Nash, Daniel Chappell, Samuel Carrington, Reuben Buckman, Obadiah Dick- inson, Ebenezer Chadwick, Gideon Canfield, and Ebenezer Gregory. [See footnote 11.]
Seth Norton, who had his first home in New Marlborough in that part of the town known as "East Indies," was inn-keeper in 1832. Deacon Caleb Wright also ran the inn, probably from about 1770 to 1815.
In 1832 each town in Massachusetts elected one representa- tive to the legislature. New Marlborough's Whig majority pre- vious to that time had been about 100, but President Jackson had given everyone such an interest in politics that the Democrats there went to work to defeat them. In those days newspapers were scarce in country towns and the Democrats procured each week 200 copies of The New York Evening Post and quietly dis- tributed them among the Whigs who would most likely be influ- enced by Democratic ideas. So thoroughly were these papers be- lieved that 40 Whig voters were made Democrats. In the fall of 1832 the town meeting opened for the election of state officers. Colonel Fitch was the Democratic candidate for representative and Squire Benjamin Sheldon was the Whig candidate. When the ballots were counted the vote was a tie. A majority was re- quired to elect, and when there was no choice, a town meeting could vote for three successive days.
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