USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Pelham > History of Pelham, Mass. : from 1738 to 1898, including the early history of Prescott > Part 19
USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Prescott > History of Pelham, Mass. : from 1738 to 1898, including the early history of Prescott > Part 19
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
The consolidation of the school districts had removed a bone of contention that had caused much excitement for two or three years and the town had been called together often to wrangle over the sub- ject. The year 1877 was like 1876 only two town meetings, the peo- ple being left to pursue the even tenor of their way, having no excit- ing public questions to consider in special town meetings, and so it was in 1878. There were only three meetings in 1879.
214
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
ANNUAL MEETING, MARCH 14, 1881.
After the election of officers, the following votes were passed :
" Voted that the Selectmen be instructed to let the town hall for dances only to select parties, who shall pay ten dollars per night for the use of the same, who shall be responsible for good order in the hall, and who shall employ a constable to preserve order, and that only tem- perate and orderly company shall at any time be admitted to the hall.
Voted to rent the town hall for three dollars per evening for religious dances.
Voted Sylvester Jewett $1.50 for services as Moderator.
ADAM COLE, Town Clerk."
MEETING, DECEMBER 17, 1881.
This meeting was called to accept the bequest of Samuel Wright of Northampton, deceased, as explained in the warrant.
" Article 2. To see if the town will vote to accept of the bequest of the late Samuel Wright of Northampton of One Thousand Dollars the income of which is to be given annually to widows, aged and infirm persons and orphan children. All being residents of said town and not town paupers, and appoint a board of trustees to invest the same."
" Voted to accept the bequest with the conditions annexed.
Voted that the present board of Selectmen be appointed trustees.
S. JEWETT, Moderator."
The year 1886 was the fifth year in succession in which the people came together at the annual March meeting, chose their town officers, raised and appropriated the money for paying for all the town expenses, and then returned to their homes and contentedly attended to their own individual affairs until the November election of state officers, and a representative to the General Court for the district to which the town belonged. At no time except March and November were the voters called together in town meeting. Only ten town meetings in five years, hardly more than were held in a single year sometimes. This five years of restfulness from town meeting excite- ments was never equalled in the history of the town, and only once was there a term of years approaching this in its freedom from numer- ous town meetings. 1876, '77 and '78 were notable for having the number of town meetings reduced to its lowest terms, viz., two each year.
21 5
TOWN MEETING RECORDS.
ANNUAL MEETING, MARCH 12, 1888.
This meeting was a notable one in the history of the town in some" respects, although the work of electing officers and appropriating money proceeded without any peculiar incidents of note.
The snows of a century and a halfhad whirled around the old Meet- ing house in which the town meeting was held the twelfth of March, 1888, but the snow that day filled the air as it had never been known to do before, and the keen blasts from the north had been piling it up in drifts in every direction while the people were voting money and discussing the important questions covered by the articles in the warrant. When the meeting dissolved and the voters started out from the town hall they became aware that a blizzard was upon them such as none had ever seen before, and one that all records of great storms the town had suffered from before, came far short in compari- son. The cold was intense and the fierce wind froze ears and cheek as the voters started out for their teams. Night was fast coming on and many who were detained longer than the rest found it impossible to make headway among the drifts, and the intense cold made the attempt positively dangerous. Something like twenty voters were obliged to stay over night, and the house of Town Clerk J. W. Keith was filled with the storm bound. Luckily an Amherst meat peddler was among those that the deep snow and the cold had obliged to seek the shelter afforded by Mr. Keith.
All night the storm howled and the fast falling snow piled the drifts higher, and when Tuesday morning dawned the impossibility of moving along the snow drifted roads, either on foot or by team was greatly increased, and the fury of the blizzard was still undimin- ished. All day Tuesday the beleagured ones were forced to remain the guests of Mr. Keith, and when the night closed down, though the storm had substantially subsided, the great drifts were impassable .. On Wednesday a portion of the imprisoned voters succeeded in reaching their homes while those living farther away dared not attempt it, and not all succeeded in surmounting the drifts and get- ting home until Thursday.
But the meat peddler's sleigh had a pretty good stock of beef and pork, and all were well fed and made as comfortable as possible.
None of those who were obliged to quarter themselves upon Town Clerk Keith at that time will ever forget the blizzard of March 12 and 13, 1888, or the generous and hospitable manner in which Mr ..
216
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
Keith entertained them during their enforced visit at his house. All reached their homes in safety however, but those who battled with the storm and the drifts that Monday night, did so after hours of hard struggle. Altogether it was probably the worst storm that was ever known in the town, certainly the only one that was given a record on the town books.
SKETCH OF SYLVESTER JEWETT.
Special meeting Jan. 23, 1892 was called to elect a successor to Sylvester Jewett, Chairman of the board of Selectmen, who had died on the roth of the month, and to fill another vacancy on the board caused by the removal from town of H. R. Davidson.
Mr. Jewett was not a native of Pelham but came to town with his family from Northampton March Ist, 1857, settled upon the Hark- ness farm which has the line between Amherst and Pelham for its western boundary. Mr. Jewett was an active man of 34, intelligent and competent, and at once took a deep interest in the affairs of the town. He was first elected upon the board of assessors in 1858, and from that time until his death there were but a few years that he was not an officer of the town, either as selectman, assessor, or as a member of the school committee. On the school board he was elected for three terms of three years each, and in all served eleven years. He served as assessor for thirty years, and for twenty years of the time was also on the board of selectmen, most of the time serving as chairman on both boards. For much of this time the selectmen were also the overseers of the poor, which increased the burden of responsibility upon the chairman not a little. Mr. Jewett was quite often chosen as Moderator of the annual as well as the special meetings, and in every position of responsibility he was called upon to fill, discharged the duties laid upon him with intelligence and faithfulness. Very few men have served the town with more desire for its best interests than did Mr. Jewett, and but one man has ever served for more years than he did. The office of town clerk was held from 1746 to 1781 by John Dick ; but Mr. Dick did not serve the town in many other positions during that time. Mr. Dick served continuously for thirty-five years while Mr. Jewett served thirty years out of thirty-four as assessor, twenty as selectman and. and eleven on the school board, making much the greatest service
SYLVESTER JEWETT.
THE OLD COMMUNION SERVICE.
THE OLD PULPIT.
217
TOWN MEETING RECORDS.
the town has ever received from any one man. In politics Mr. Jewett was an anti-slavery man, and upon the formation of the republican party he gave his support to it, and labored zealously for its success and the overthrow of slavery. He was also active in religious work; being an active member and officer of the Second Congregational church at Amherst, but mingled freely with the Methodist people in religious work. In 1869 Mr. Jewett was nomi- nated by the republicans of the Fifth Hampshire district, which inclu- ded Belchertown, Granby and Pelham, for representative to the General Court. He was elected and made an honorable record for himself, the town and district, at the following session of the legis- lature. Sylvester Jewett was born at Northampton August 18, 1824, and was the son of Ansel Jewett, for many years a resident of North- ampton, and was 67 years of age at his death.
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SPELO PHOTO-ENG. CO.
THE OLD MEETING HOUSE IN PELHAM. Where town meetings have been held for 154 consecutive years.
A SKETCH OF THE OLD MEETING HOUSE. 1739 TO 1897.
For the last ten years, or more, the people have moved quietly along from year to year, with little of startling interest for record upon the town books, or to any one who may have been interested in the town
.218
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
meeting records of earlier date, when matters of importance were pressing for consideration ; consequently we have only made a record of town officers elected during these later years, which is to be found elsewhere. At the annual meeting in March, 1897 an appropration was made for repairs upon the town hall and the sum has been expended in sheathing the ceiling of the ancient building and in other needful repairs, so that now the old meeting house or town hall seems to be in condition for service to several generations yet to come ; unless destroyed by fire or cyclone, as the huge yellow pine beams that were originally for the support of the galleries on one side and the two ends of the building, seem sound and strong enough to support the floor of the upper room now used as a town hall. In April 1845 it was "Voted to lay a floor across the gallery and move the stove now in the old meeting house above and repair it suitable for a town house, meaning the upper part of the old meeting house." Since that time the upper portion of the building has been used for town purposes and the lower part for storage, except a small room on the lower floor in the southwest corner used for the library, selectmen's room, and a vault for the town records, built in 1890. The repairs referred to above have added much to the appearance of the room, and to the comfort of the people who assemble for town meetings, and social gatherings.
The first record in relation to a meeting house was the vote at Capt. Daniel Heywoods house in Worcester, where the proprietors held a meeting Feb. 26, 1738-9, instructing the committee, which reads as follows :- " That then they do in the Center of the whole Tract as near as they in their Judgments Shall think proper lay out Ten Acres for a Meeting House Place, burying place and Training field &c." At the first meeting of the proprietors on the newly purchased tract Aug. 6, 1740, at the house of John Fergerson, it was "Voted that the Meeting House be 46 feet in leangth and 36 in weadth." At the same meeting £120 in part for a meeting house was voted. Imme- diately following this vote is another appropriation of £120, which some think was a second sum of £120 voted for the meeting house, but it is more probable that William Gray, proprietors' clerk, made two records of the same vote, although one is numbered " Fourthly " and the other " Fifthly ".
May 19, 1741 it was " Voted that there be £120 collected for the . second payment on the Meeting house." Sept 1, 1741 " Voted that
219
TOWN MEETING RECORDS.
there be £100 assessed for the last payment of the agreement for the Meeting House." The first meeting of the inhabitants of Pelham warned to be held in the Meeting House, was held April 19, 1743 for the choice of town officers under the act of incorporation.
That meetings for worship were held in the unfinished meeting house for sometime before April 19, 1743 is quite probable, for it was " Voted Aug 5th 1740 that James McCoulough, James Thornton and Samuel Gray be a Comeety to agree with a workman to rease a Meet- ing House and inClose it and lay the under floor and hinge the doors and mack the windo frames. " It would seem improbable that the meeting house was not sufficiently advanced so that meetings for wor- ship or for gatherings of the proprietors on business could be held before April 1743. Those Scotch Presbyterians were not the men to allow the work on the meeting house to drag along two or three years before it was far enough advanced for holding meetings, but it might have been sometime before it was finished with gallery, pulpit and pews.
The acceptance of the act of incorporation and the choice of town officers did not end the business of the original proprietors, for they continued to hold meetings for sometime after that. The first pro- prietors meeting called at the meeting house was that of May 16, 1743, nearly a month after the first town meeting, and proprietors meetings were held there until April 8, 1746. About that time there was some unpleasantness between a portion of the proprietors and the town authorities and in consequence no more proprietors' meet- ings were called at the meeting house.
Religious meetings probably began to be held in the meeting house as soon as the " under floor " was laid and the " doors hinged " in the summer of 1740, although the final settlement with Thomas and John Dick, the builders, was not recorded until July 24, 1744, when it was " Voted that Thomas and John Dick be allowed the sum of £30 according to the old tenor in case they Delivered up their bounds which they Received from the Commetty that agreed with them to build the Meeting House."
There are no pews, or remains of the old square box pews on the ground floor of the ancient building but at the west end of the upper or town hall room, the stout yellow pine frame-work of the gallery seats are still intact. The pulpit was on the north side of the build- ing and high enough to command a view of the gallery seats as well
220
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
as of the pews beneath. A picture of that portion of the pulpit in which the minister stood and which was reached by a winding flight of stairs, accompanies this sketch. Above the preacher's head hung the " sounding board, " which was deemed an absolutely necessary equipment in the days so long past.
In summer, on Sundays, and on lecture days, when no fires were needed, and during the long cold winters when none could be had, these Scotch Presbyterian men and women gathered at the meeting- house and listened to two long sermons, or a long lecture prepara- tory to the Communion table, and received from the hands of the pastor or elder the lead token that would admit the possessor to that ordinance ;- this they continued to do for many years, for not until 1831 was there any arrangement for warming the meeting house. Nov. 14th of that year it was " Voted that the subscribers for procur- ing a stove have a privilege of setting it up in the meeting house providing they obtain it and support it throughout at their own expense."
In 1839 the corner stone of a new church building was laid by Rev. Nathan Perkins of Amherst, and after nearly a full century of occu- pancy for religious worship the old meeting house was moved back into the old burying-ground. The town meetings had always been held in the meeting house up to that time, and are still held therein, making 154 years that all the important and unimportant mat- ters of town business have been discussed and decided within its historic walls at town meetings, averaging eight to ten per year, since I743. Here they met and consulted with each other and took action during the French and Indian war, the war of the Revolution, the war of 1812, the Shays Rebellion, and the war of the Rebellion. Altogether the old meeting house has been a very useful building, and about it gathers more of historic interest than attaches to any other similar structure in this part of the state.
221
TOWN MEETING RECORDS.
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FACSIMILE OF WILLIAM GILMORE'S INVOICE. See Page 104.
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Proune of Massachusetts Bay
Whereas the Gen, Court or assembly
by their Order of the first of anvill Curie have authorized
au empowered
'vou'le me the Subscriber hereof Cupon due Notice Publication given) to assemble the Inhabitants of the Town of Pelham to Choose all Your Officer who bounty of shall frand till the anniversary Meeting in Mandnext
Pursuant there fo there are therefore to Warn and Notifie the freeholder and offer Inhabitants of 1; Gowin qualified by Law to lose in Town of fairy that they aremble themselves at the Meeting House in 10 Pelham on Tupay the Nineteenth day of aprile Curvos at nine of the Clock in the fore. neen for the Choosing Town Officers for 1; Gown as afover? 1 Jared of Pellium the ninth day of april in the sixteenth year of this May, Reign Bort Dialors Nunog, Som" -1743.
a Copy
RESIDENCE OF MRS. ANNETTE MORGAN.
THE "CITY" SCHOOL HOUSE.
SCHOOLS.
From 1744 to 1897.
Establishment of Schools in 1744 .- School Committees .- Appropriations.
ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS IN PELHAM.
Notwithstanding all the great labour and expense attendant upon the purchase and settlement of this tract of land,-the clearing away and building of roads and bridges,-the clearing away of the forest, and the building of their log houses,-the breaking up of por- tions of their home lots for cultivation to raise crops for the sustenance of themselves and families,-the work of building the meeting house, besides the many other necessary matters demanding attention to make their homes and families comfortable ;- yet it was but little more than a year after the act of incorporation, and organization under it, before they began to feel the importance of a school, and the necessary action on the part of the town, took place on the 26th of April, 1744. Samuel Gray was Moderator of the meeting, and the recorded vote is as follows.
" Voted that there be a scole Keept in town for ye Space of two Months, at ye Dwelling House of Ephriam Cowan, one Month, one Month at ye Dwelling house William Grays. "
Ephraim Cowan lived on home lot No. 42 and was probably the same farm known as the Collins Brailey place fifty years ago, and now owned by Stephen Rhodes.
William Gray lived on home lot No. 11 about a mile Northeast of the old meeting house, at the center of the town.
No appropriation or allowance was made for the cost of the school ; nor was there any school committee chosen to employ school masters, -for it must be assumed that school masters were employed, as very few if any women were capable of filling the position of teacher at that early day. Nor is it probable that girls attended school when schools were first established. Sewing, knitting, spinning and weaving and the ordinary duties of housekeeping, was considered enough for women to know, and the girls acquired all that at home.
224
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
MEETING MAY 14, 1745.
It was " Voted that there be a scole Keept in town this Present year .- ye time for Keeping sª scole is in ye Months of August and September and ye Place is at ye Meeting house in sd Pelham. " No allowance of money was made to meet the expense,-and no bills were brought in to the debit and credit meeting for settlement for this year ;- after that, fixed appropriations were voted for schools, and school committees came into use to hire school masters, etc., but school committees were not elected regularly at each annual meeting until about 1786.
1746. " It was Voted that there be Thirty Six Pounds Raised to Pay a Scole Master for Keeping Scole. "
" Voted yt there be a Scole in ye town ye Six Months Insuing or as soon as Convency Will allow.
Voted that ye scole be Keept two Months at ye Meetinghouse & two Months at Ephriam Cowans & two Months at Alexander Con- keys. Voted that John Conkey, Thomas Dick & John Gray be a Committee to Provide a Scole Master for ye town for ye Six Months. "
MEETING MARCH II 1747.
It was " Voted that there be Scole in town Six Months, to begin at the first Day of June Nixt & to continue Six Months following,- Voted also that ye Scole is to go no further than ye Nole Betwixt James Taylors & Alexander Conkey's and two Months at ye Meet- ing House and to go no further than the Bridge at Ephriam Cowans -Voted that ye Scole Money be Assessed with the Debt & Credit Money. "
In 1748 it was " Voted that there be a Scole Six Months to begin the first of June Nixt and that the Scole be Keept as it was last year."
In 1749 it was " Voted that there be £140 old tenor for a Scole this present year to be Keept one third of ye Time at John Savige's and one third of ye Time at Samuel Taylor's and one third of ye time at ye Meeting House,-Said Scole is to be Keept, Month about at each Plase & said Scole is to Begin att ye Meetinghouse.
April 10, 1750. " Six Pounds thirteen Shillings and four Pence Lawful Money is Voted for Support of Scole for this Present year. "
In 1751. " £6-13-4ª was allowed for Scole this Present year and Patrick Peebles and John Savige and John Hunter be a Committee to provide Scole. "
225
SCHOOLS.
In 1752. £8- was allowed for support of Scole and it was " Voted that there be a Committee chosen to provide a Scole Master, said Committee is John Stinson, Robert Lotheridge & Andrew Maklam. "
1753. " £5-6-8 allowed for Scole this year. "
1754. " £8-o-o allowed for Schole the Present Year. "
" Voted that the town be divided in regard to the Scole-Voted Negatively that there be no Committee. "
April 24, 1755. " Voted that the Scole Be Keept at the Meeting House & the East Hill & the West End Each place to have thare Propor Sheable Share-Also Voted that there be a Schole House Built at the Meeting House .- Likewise Voted that thare Be a Scole House Built at the West End-Also Voted that there Be a Scole House Built at the East Hill. "
March 24, 1756. "Voted that there is £40 allowed for the support of a Scole for the Present Year-Voted that the town is to be Divi- ded Into five parts-Also voted that thare be a Committee Chosen to Divide said town as relating to ye Scole-Said Committee is James Berry, Thomas Hamilton, George Petteson, Thomas Johnson & Alexander Turner. "
1757. " £13-65-8ª Voted for Schools the Present year and that James Berry, John Clark, David Cowden, John Blair & Thomas Johnson be a Committee to provide a School Master. "
1758. " The Allowance for Schools was £13-65 8d. There was no action in relation to school houses or other school matter. "
1759 .- " £40 was Voted in lawful money to be Raised to Defray charges already arisen, " but nothing said about how much of it was for schools.
1760. David Houston, Patrick McMullen, Thomas Hamilton. William Harkness and James Furgerson were chosen a committee to " Place the Scole Houses said Scole Houses to be Laid as other Reats. "
The School houses were placed in such Quarter of the town, and " Each Pole is allowed 3 Shillings pr Day at Building the Scole Houses "
1761. £18 was allowed for the support of School this Present year and " Voted that the Scole is to be continued the whole year. Voted that Each Quarter Build their own Scole Houses, and
226
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
later, men were chosen to have charge of money appropriated for Schole houses in the several quarters of the town.
1762, £13-65-8d. 1763, £13-65-8. 1764, £13-65- 8. 1765, £20. 1766, £20. £30 allowed for the support of Schools from 1767 to 1770.
In 1770 it was " voted that there is Alterations to be Made in the School Quarters and that the Under named Persons are set off by themselves as a School Quarter, To Wite-William Conkey, Alex- ander Conkey, James Taylor, James Pebels, Eliza Davenport, James Gilmore, John Anderson, John McCraken, John McCartney, James Hunter, James McCartney, John Hunter & William Hunter. "
" Voted that the School Houses is to be Built & Repaired in Each Quarter of the town-Voted that there is £100 allowed for Building School Houses in Each Quarter of the town-Likewise that Said Money be Divided to Each Quarter as the School Rate is Devided. "
The allowance for Schools ranged from £25 to $30 per year from 1771 to 1778.
1779. £100.
March 22, 1780. Because of the almost worthless character of the Continental Currency, it was voted to allow £1000 for Schools.
1781. The sum allowed for Schools this year was £1500. The people were under the crushing burdens of the struggle for liberty, but they did not neglect to vote a liberal allowance for the support of the schools.
1782. April 11, £30 was appropriated for schools.
1783, £40. 1784, £40. 1785, £40. For many of the years after schools were established, all that the records show about them is the amount allowed or voted for their support. Up to this time School Committees had been chosen but a few years.
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