USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Rowe > History of Rowe, Massachusetts > Part 2
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HISTORY OF ROWE
of one of its many tributaries by parties of French and Indians coming from the north with hostile intent; (8) that the mount (or mounts) of the fort gave to the sentinel a wide survey of glorious mountain scenery in every direction, and that to the west Greylock itself, then as now, towered with bended arch above the long range of the Hoosacs; and (9) that the barracks of the men posted at Fort Pelham, of whom twenty was about the complement during King George's War, were within the pickets and probably at the corners in connection with the mount or mounts, although, natur- ally enough, there are no such remains of chimneys and ovens and bricks there as fairly clutter the ground at Fort Shirley.
We have seen that Capt. Moses Rice of Charlemont had agreed to build the fort. But Stoddard's letter of March 6, 1745 authorizes Williams to finish the fort and in so doing to " employ so many of the soldiers " under his command as were necessary and to " employ for that purpose the Timbers the sd Rice had drawn together." Williams was further instructed to " fin- ish sd fort with all convenient speed ", " provided the sd Rice do not within sd ten days take effectual care to your satisfaction that he will finish it ". This letter reveals a delay in constructing the fort on the part of Rice, but history does not tell us whether it was Rice or the soldiers under Captain William Wil- liams at Fort Shirley, who finished the work. Perry holds to the latter theory. An interesting question, however, presents itself. By March 6, 1745, the date of the letter, the fort had been partly constructed. The frost could hardly have been out of the ground so early in the year, and we are left to speculate as to whether the work was started in 1745 or in the fall of 1744.
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MASSACHUSETTS
Now Dr. Perry tells us that there is little doubt that the old military road continued west from Fort Pel- ham in Dwight's line and passing Pulpit Rock to the right followed the present road southwesterly to the Deerfield at Hoosac Tunnel station. After a careful search of all available sources the writer is forced to disagree with this contention, and submits the follow- ing argument :- Dr. Perry's only authority cited is Colonel Stoddard's order to Captain Williams in 1744, " and you are hereby further directed as you may have Opportunity to Search out some Convenient places where two or three other forts may be Erected Each to be about five miles and a Half Distance upon the line run the Last week as above mentioned or the pricked line on the platt made by Colo Dwight whe platt you will have with you." Nowhere is there any record of the building of any road or the blazing of any trail west of Fort Pelham. No fort was ever constructed five and a half miles west of Pelham which would be on the heights of Florida and Monroe, and the third fort in the cordon was Massachusetts, built the same year (1745) in the town-ship of North Adams some fifteen miles southwest of Pelham. The steep slopes in the western part of Rowe and west of the Deerfield would discourage any surveyor from laying out a trail to be travelled by pack horses. The topography of Rowe one to two miles west of Pelham is such that any engineer would draw a fairly straight line in a south- westerly direction and not a line due west forming a right angle with another due south. It was the custom for New England towns to build two intersecting main roads, one north and south and the other east and west. The town of Rowe in 1786, forty-one years later voted to establish the road four rods wide, west of Fort Pel- ham site, to the " west line of Lieut. Abner Chapin's
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HISTORY OF ROWE
farme " where it stopped; and the town at the same time voted to establish a road two rods wide from Wil- liam Steel's northeast corner (near Steele Brook) to the southeast corner of Abner Chapin's meeting the four-rod " main road leading east and west through the Town ". The road from the Cressy Neighborhood down to the Tunnel was first used in the 1860's and became a public road some 20 years later. The map of 1793 shows five roads, the east road to Heath, north road to Whitingham over Streeter Hill, north road from the old center past the Robert Wells farm to Readsborough, south road to Charlemont over the mountain, and the southwest road to Zoar. The west roads are omitted as they but connected outlying farms and led to no town.
When Capt. Moses Rice agreed to draw the timber for Fort Pelham, there must have been some kind of trail from his cabin to the fort site. Furthermore, the ancient Mohawk Trail crossed the Deerfield a mile and a half above Rice's, ascended the heights on the south- erly slopes of Todd Mountain and crossed Hoosac Mountain in a northwesterly direction. This was used by the early settlers with their pack horses and cattle. Finally, we have the diary of John Norton, the chap- lain appointed to these forts in 1745.
" Thursday, August 14, 1746. - I left Fort Shirley in company with Dr. Williams, and about fourteen of the sol- diers; we went to Pelham fort, and from thence to Capt. Rice's, where we lodged that night. Friday, the 15th, we went from thence to Fort Massachusetts, where I designed to have tarried about a month."
Rice's homestead was about midway between Deer- field and Fort Massachusetts and the valiant captain was so often forced to act as host to travellers that he petitioned the General Court for assistance.
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The old road from Isaiah Adams' above Rogers mills southerly over Adams Mountain has long since been closed (1837) to all but a stray traveler, but is still known locally as Norton's Trail. This was the military road.
John Norton was born in Berlin, Connecticut, in 1716, was graduated at Yale College in 1737, was ordained in 1741 in Deerfield to be the minister of Fall- town (Bernardston), and was appointed chaplain of the forts in 1745. He began his new duties in Febru- ary 1746. August 1, 1746 he came from Shirley to Pel- ham and continued on to Rice's. The following day he arrived at Massachusetts intending to stay a month. But on August 20 the Fort surrendered to 800 French and Indians under Vandreuil and the 20 inmates were carried captives to Canada. In this seige which lasted 24 hours, the Chaplain shared the honors with Ser- geant John Hawks, the gallant commander, and this fight forms one of the most brilliant pages in American History. He returned to Boston August 16, 1747 and took his family to Springfield. In November 1748 he settled in the ministry at East Hampton, Connecticut, where he died in 1778. For many years there stood in Shirley field a rude headstone with the following in- scription -
Here lys ye body of Anna D : of ye Rev. Mr. John Norton. She died Aug. ye - aged - 1747.
It requires but small imagination to picture the hardships of life in Shirley Fort and the desolation felt by the young wife and children during the chap- lain's captivity of one year. His place as chaplain for the line of forts was never filled.
In his diary, Norton states that he travelled from Fort Shirley to Pelham and thence to Massachusetts
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HISTORY OF ROWE
by way of Rice's, in company with Dr. Williams and about fourteen soldiers. This Dr. Williams was Thomas Williams, half brother of Captain Ephraim Williams, and was born in Newton in 1718, which would make him 28 years of age at this time. He was the surgeon for the line of forts, having become such prob- ably when John Norton was made the chaplain and Ephraim Williams the captain. Dr. Williams arrived at Fort Massachusetts August 15, 1746 with Norton and fourteen soldiers, but left the fort the following day for Deerfield "with fourteen men ", and so escaped capture when Fort Massachusetts surren- dered.
Captain Ephraim Williams, later the founder of Williams College, was in full command of the line of forts, twelve in all, including Deerfield, from June 9, 1745 to December 10, 1746.
The war continued in a desultory way in various parts of New England. In 1748 various moves were made by the authorities at Boston which indicates their determination to make that year a decisive one. Fort Massachusetts and No. 4 (Charlestown, N. H.) were made the important centers probably to the neglect of the Shirley and Pelham forts. The Hobbs fight (12 miles west from Fort Dummer) took place in June 1748, and another attack by the French and Indi- ans on Fort Massachusetts in August, this time prov- ing unsuccessful. Captain Ephraim Williams had only shortly before changed his headquarters from Shirley to Fort Massachusetts.
The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed October 18, 1748 which terminated the hostilities between England and France. Nevertheless, the New England frontiers remained in a state of semi-hostilities until the out- break of the next war in 1754. All the garrisons, how-
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ever, were reduced and Shirley and Pelham became relatively unimportant as outposts.
Capt. Ephraim Williams remained in command of the new Fort Massachusetts, rebuilt in 1747; but there- after, the line of forts to the eastward was under a separate command. Capt. Israel Williams, half-cousin of Ephraim and nephew of Col. John Stoddard, in 1748 was given command of the forts with headquarters at Shirley. He then had 36 men at Shirley,* 30 at Pel- ham, 25 at Morrison's Fort in Colrain, 16 at South Fort in Colrain, and 12 at New Hampton and Bland- ford. Lieut. Samuel Childs commanded at Fort Pel- ham, with John Foster as Sergeant and Samuel Bar- nard as Clerk. Sheldon quotes a tradition to the effect that Joshua Hawks' son Jared Hawks, was born at the Fort March 27, 1752, perhaps the first baby within the present limits of Rowe. Following is the list of men at Fort Pelham in 1748:
Lieut. Samuel Childs, Deerfield
Joseph Bucknan,
Oxford
Clerk Samuel Barnard,
Aaron Rice,
Rutland
Sergt. John Foster,
Ebenezer Altbee,
Holliston
Centl. Moses Copley,
Suffield
Joseph Gould, Hopkinton
Daniel Warner,
60
Elias Witt, Josiah Child,
Marlborough Grafton
Joel Kent,
Joseph Ball,jun,
Springfield Samuel Allen,
Moses Wright,
Northfield
John Post,
Josiah Burnham, Deerfield
Archalaus Beadeau,
Weston
Aaron Graves, John Bagg, Jthamar Healey,
Springfield Rehoboth
Jacob Foster,
Samuel Abbott,
Lamktown
Joshua Wells,
Josiah Walker,
Westborough
Jonathan Evans,
Somers
Ralph Wardell,
Joshua Hawks,
Deerfield
Samuel Ball,
Kingston Brimfield
Ezekiel Foster,
Deerfield
Longmeadow Springfield
The muster roll of the garrison at Fort Massachusetts extending from December 11, 1749 to June 3, 1750, gives twenty-one men to Fort Massachusetts, five ex- pressly to Fort Shirley, and five, apparently, to Fort Pelham, although, as Perry points out, the official
* Cf. Letter from Col. Stoddard to Gov. Shirley, March 1, 1748.
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HISTORY OF ROWE
indorsement mentions only "Ephm Williams and Co. at Fort Massachusetts." The five apparently given to Fort Pelham are
Joseph Allen, Sergant Joshua Hawks, Cent. Joshua Wells, Cent. Daniel Donnilson, Cent. William Stevens, Cent.
On November 1, 1748 Capt. Williams had 88 at Shir- ley, Pelham and Colrain, but then dismissed 35, retaining 53 men until April 3, 1749. Lieut. William Lyman in his return gives 26 as the number in the entire line of forts, from June 1749 to January 1750.
On June 13, 1754 Governor Shirley sent a message to the House of Representatives which contains the following : -
" Upon this Occasion I must put you in mind of the hazard- ous condition Fort Pelham and Fort Shirley are now in, if there should be any sudden Assault from the Indians on that Frontier; we must expect that the thing they will do would be to burn those forts, which they might easily do in their present Circumstances. Therefore I must recommend it to you, that provision be made that some better care may be taken for preserving them ".
Israel Williams, now Colonel in command of the northern regiment in Hampshire County, was en- trusted with the defence of the northwestern frontier. He drew a sketch of the region for Governor Shirley, to whom he recommended the abandonment of Pelham and Shirley Forts, and the establishment of forts in the valley on the north side of Deerfield River, Taylor Fort at East Charlemont enclosing the houses of Oth- niel and Jonathan Taylor, the same arrangement in the western part of Charlemont, at the houses of Ger- shom and Seth Hawks. The General Court accepted these plans, and Rowe and Heath again became a wil- derness.
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Two interesting letters addressed to Othniel Taylor at Charlemont may here be inserted as showing the service of scouts in and about Rowe.
Colrain, May the 18, 1758.
Sr I have ordered the scout from this place to go once in a week to Deerfield River about 8 miles above the province Line, and fall town (Bernardston) Scout to strike the North River 6 miles above us, and direct you to send your Scout once a week to Deerfield River at the province line. we have no news, but all well.
I am your sevent, John Catlin.
Colrain, May the 30, 1758.
Sr Last Sunday night I rec'd an account from Sergt. Hawks that his Scout had made Some discovery of an Enemy not far from pelham fort. These are therefore to direct you to taek one man from your fort with you and go to Rice's, and taek two men there to Hawks' and taek Samuel Morrison with one man, five in whole, and go to the place where they took their start, and make a thourer Search, and if you make no discovery then carry the Scout as hy up as the province Line, and make return to me.
Your Sevnt, John Catlin.
The following letter from Governor Shirley to John Stoddard, dated April 10, 1747, is especially interest- ing in showing the continued plan to build a fort west of Pelham. The letter is so full of interest that we give it in full.
" The General Court having come to a Resolution respect- ing the Defence of the Frontiers, and provided for erecting a Number of Blockhouses, particularly one at or near the Place where Massachusetts Fort stood, another to the West- ward of Fort Pelham, and third between Colerain and Fall Town, (for the building of which you have my order here- with enclosed), and having voted Pay and Subsistence to the Garrisons to be placed in such Blockhouses, and the Soldiers to be posted in other Places particularly mention'd, I shall give Orders to Brigadier Dwight to draw out of his Regimt so many Men as with those now in the Service in the County of Hampshire will make up the full number
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HISTORY OF ROWE
allowed on this Establishmt for Garrison Soldiers; And I desire that you and he would agree upon the Distribution of them accordingly, viz Twenty Men for a Garrison at Northfield, and as many at Colerain, Thirty at the new Mas- sachusetts Fort. At Fort Shirley, Fort Pelham, the Block- house at Fall Town, the Blockhouses to be built one between Colerain and Pelham and the other to the Westward of Fort Pelham twenty Men each. And you must give Orders to the Commanding Officers of the several Forts and Block- houses that will be garrisoned by other Soldiers than those of Brigadier Dwight's Regiment (as I shall direct him to do respecting those Officers in the Service that are in his Regimt) to keep a constant Scout from one Blockhouse to another to give proper Advices and Signals of the Appear- ance of the Enemy, and to the Commanding Officers at Mas- sachusetts Fort to keep out a Scout Westwards of said Fort, and all of them to keep Journals of their Proceedings and transmit them to you : You must put ten of the Inhabitants of Colerain and as many of the Inhabitants of Green River above Deerfield into the Pay of the Province.
Besides the Recruits you will have from Brigr Dwight for the Garrisons before mention'd, I shall order him to draw out a hundred Men for a Marching Company to scout on your Borders, and more especially for covering the Men that will be employed in building the new Blockhouses; In the disposition of which as well as in all matters relating to the Defence of your Frontier I shall order him to advise with you from time to time.
I am
Sir, Your most Assur'd Friend and Servant W. Shirley."
Colo John Stoddard
Col. Israel Williams under date of September 12, 1754 wrote to Governor Shirley in part as follows :
" I conclude by this time you are fully inform'd of the hostil attacks of the Indians, and the mischief done by them in our own Frontiers and the neighboring Governments - It is now open war with us, and a dark distressing scene opening
Herewith I send a plan of the Western Parts of this Prov- ince by which your Excellency will be able to form a judg- ment of our situation and whether what I am about to pro-
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MASSACHUSETTS
pose will serve the general Interest of the whole which is, - That there be a Garrison at Fall Town, another at Mor- risons in Colrain, two at Charlemont, Massachusetts Fort and a garrison at Pontoosook. The people are preparing for their defence, as I suppose, and the charge of making those places sufficient will not as I apprehend be very great to the Government.
I propose that there be at least fifty men at Fort Massa- chusetts, thirty at Pontoosook, they to maintain a constant scout from Stockbridge thro the Western part of Framing- ham township, and the West Township at Hooseck to the said Fort and from thence to the top of Hoosack Mountain. That there be 14 men at Fall Town, 20 at Morrisons and 12 at each garrison at Charlemont, these to perform a constant scout from Connecticut River against Northfield to the top of Hooseck Mountain. These scouts thus performed will cross all the roads the Enemy ever travel to come within the aforesaid Line of Forts. There will doubtless be more wanted for the Protection of some places within the Line. However if the scouting be faithfully performed there will not, I apprehend, any considerable body of the enemy get within the Line aforesaid undiscovered and there will be a great restraint upon small parties who will be afear'd of being ensnar'd.
The reasons why I would neglect Shirley and Pelham Fort is because the Indians were scarce ever known the last war to come down Deerfield River, and that road is very bad and almost impassable. Shirley is rotten and if maintained must be rebuilt. That at Morrisons will answer as well and can be much easier supply'd. After all if our Government would build a Fort upon the top of Hooseck Mountain between Pelham and Fort Massachusetts it would shorten the scouting and answer as well the first proposed line thro Charlemont."
Governor Shirley replied to this letter of Israel Wil- liams in part as follows : -
" I am extremely well satisfied with the great care and vigilance you have already shew'd for the protection and safety of the people upon the Western Frontier
The plan you sent hath been of great service for my in- formation in the state of Western Frontier, and I much approve of the Line of Forts propos'd by you for the defence and protection of it, by marching parties or scouts.
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HISTORY OF ROWE
So far as I could go in the execution of it before the meet- ing of the General Court, I have gone and propos'd to his Majesty's Council the augmentation of the Garrison of Fort Massachusetts with 25 men, and 30 men to be posted and employed in scouting as you shall think most for the protection of the frontier under your care, which you will find they have advis'd to, and you will raise the men accordingly.
When the General Court meets I shall endeavor to carry the remainder of your scheme into execution, and shall make the protection and defence of that part of the Province, in the most effectual manner in every respect, one of the prin- cipal objects of my attention."
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CHAPTER III.
" The last Indian raid on the frontiers of Massachusetts was at Colrain March 21, 1759."
George Sheldon. FROM 1754 TO 1785.
Rufus Putnam was one of the heroes of the Revolu- tionary War, upon whose career the pen of the his- torian has touched too lightly. Overshadowed perhaps by his more picturesque cousin, Israel Putnam, Colonel Rufus Putnam was probably of greater value to the American cause; and as Washington's Chief of Engi- neers his service was incalculable. However, it is an event in his varied career which took place in the " Old French War " that concerns us now, as it touches upon Rowe.
Born in 1738, his boyhood was not different from that of other New England boys, learned in the art of hunting and woodcraft. When nearly sixteen, he was bound as an apprentice to the mill-wright trade under a brother-in-law at Brookfield. For the next three years he practiced his trade, and at the same time acquired a large brawny frame possessed of great muscular strength.
The war between England and France had broken out in 1754. The news of the battles, Braddock's® defeat, the exploits of Israel Putnam, must have fired his youthful mind, for in his nineteenth year he enlisted as a private soldier in the Company of 100 under Capt. Ebenezer Learned. The term of service was to be from March 15, 1757 to February 2, 1758. The last of April 1757 the company left Brookfield for Kinderhook, N. Y., about eighteen miles below Albany. The rest of the campaign was spent in the Hudson Valley, mostly between Albany and Fort Edward. New Year's Day,
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HISTORY OF ROWE
1758, found the company at Stillwater on the east side of the Hudson near the spot where the battle of Bemis Heights was later to decide the fate of Burgoyne. The men were eagerly awaiting Candlemas (February 2nd) when they would be released from servitude.
From the movements of Captain Skene, the Com- mander of the stockade garrison, they suspected that he intended to hold them in service beyond the limit of their enlistment. So they quietly made arrangements for their journey and constructed snow-shoes for each man. Capt. Learned then returned from a furlough; and when apprised of the plan, he consented to lead them. The 2nd of February came and Capt. Skene read an order from Gen. Abercrombie, directing him to persuade the Massachusetts men to remain a few days until he could hear from that Government. The men replied that he is a good soldier who serves his full time.
True to their purpose, about three o'clock in the morning of the 3rd they left the garrison, seventy in number under Capt. Learned. The distance to Hoosack Fort (in Williamstown) was 30 miles and was allotted for two days' march. The provisions had been saved from the daily rations for a week or so previous. The snow in the woods proved deeper than expected, while a snow storm on the second day bewildered the leaders. Three wild turkeys were killed which added a little to the scanty stock of provisions. On the fourth day they found that they had missed the way and had been following the wrong stream. This branch, it seems, led them into the New Hampshire grants where Benning- ton, Vermont is now located.
We now quote from Putnam's Journal which is deposited in the library of the college at Marietta, Ohio.
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" Sundown we came upon the top of a very large moun- tain, (Woodford and Searsburg), which seemed to be the height of land, and now we were satisfied whereabouts we were. We judged ourselves to be 30 miles northwest of Hoosack. The weather was exceedingly cold, and the snow five feet deep and the provisions very short. February 7. This morning thirty of us made a good Breakfast of a small poor turkey without salt or bread; and now our provision was gone. In about 5 miles from where we Lodged, we came upon a Small Stream (near Heartwellville) descending toward the South East, at the seeing of which we were all very much rejoiced; there seemed to be a smiling counte- nance on all the Company, to think that we got on the Bor- ders of New England. And on our way down this stream, there were several small streams come into it, so that it got to be a large River. This night we camped but felt exceed- ing faint for want of victuals, but yet our Courage held out. At present Courage was the only thing we had to support us, except it was Beech buds and some high swamp Cran- berries.
" Feb. 8. This day we had exceeding bad travelling all day, and the River turned contrary to our expectations; so that we had but little hopes of getting into any Post these some days. It was now exceeding stormy weather and heavy travelling, only on the River (Deerfield) when the Ice would bear; and had we not had some relief by that means, we had all perished in the woods. About Sundown we came to camp and being exceeding faint, living without victuals some days and we having a large dog with us, we killed him and divided him among 70 men, giving every man his equal share. . .
" Feb. 9. This day we had better travelling on the River and it seemed to steer the way we wanted, (they had rounded the Great Bend at Hoosac Tunnel), and about noon we came to where some trees were cut for shingles, (prob- ably near Hoosac Tunnel), and at night we came to where one of our men knew the ground, (Zoar where Pelham Brook meets the Deerfield), and told the Capt. we were within three miles of Hawk's Fort, on the Charlemont; not- withstanding the Capt. would not go on because a great part of the men had froze their feet, and were at least two miles behind. But we went to Camping, (on Zoar flats), and the Capt. and James Call, who knew the ground went down the river about a mile till the Capt. was Satisfied the man knew as much as he pretended, and then sent him on, and ordered
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