USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Rowe > History of Rowe, Massachusetts > Part 3
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him to have a breakfast prepared in the morning; after which the Capt. returned back to us by which time those lame men came up, and as the Capt. came up to us, we were all very zealous to hear what news? But we soon learned by the Captain's countenance, before he got within some rods of us and as the Capt. came up to us, he said. Eat what you have to eat this night; for the promised land is just by. Some were for going on this night, but the Capt. told them; No, by no means, for it would hazard the lives of a great many. The news that the Capt. brought raised the Spirits of all the men, so that those whose Countenance looked sad, were brought to a very smiling Complection.
" Feb. 10. This morning we set out on our march, and about one mile from where we camped, we saw three men a-coming up the River which we were glad to see, and when they come to us, we found that one of them was the man we sent on the night before and he brought out some bread and meat boiled; which we recd. very Kindly, and about ten o'clock we came into Hawk's Fort on Charlemont, when we Refreshed ourselves until about noon; after which we marched to Rice's Fort about one mile, where twenty of us stayed, all which were lame by reason of their feet being froze on our march except Samuel Dexter, Lemuel Cobb, and myself. Through all this march I brought Ichabod Dex- ter's pack, because he froze his feet before we set out from Stillwater, and I tarried to help him along further."
The next day, twenty of the men including Putnam, continued to Taylor's Fort. Putnam then continued to Deerfield, Hadley, Greenwich, and arrived at his home in Brookfield, Feb. 15th.
PELHAM
The origin of the appellation of Pelham is of consid- erable interest to lovers of Rowe. We can do no better than quote Perry again.
" Henry Pelham was nobody in particular except the brother of the Duke of Newcastle, but he became a first lord of the British Treasury in 1743, and was virtually prime minister of England thereafter till his death in 1754, when William Pitt, whose gradual introduction into high public place by Pelham was the latter's greatest service to his country, stepped boldly though tentatively into the chief
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control of affairs, and in five years put an end to French domination in America. The rustic Colonial politicians were wont to keep a sharp eye on the drift of things in Eng- land, and knew who the rising statesmen were over there whenever any such seemed to show up their heads. Besides this, it is said that Henry Pelham made a personal tour of Massachusetts a little before the outbreak of King George's War; and at any rate, the old county of Hampshire, for one or both of these reasons, exhibited to the world a township, a fort, and a mountain stream, all called after his name at just about the same time."
The tract comprising the town of Pelham was first sold to Colonel Stoddard of Northampton, and was known as Stoddard's Town. Later he sold it to some settlers from Worcester, and the name was changed to Pelham at the time of incorporation in 1742. Prob- ably Col. Stoddard gave the same name to the fort in Rowe, for he was Chairman of the Committee in charge of the erection of the cordon of forts west of Colrain. He has been called " one of that great trio which had John Pynchon of Springfield for its first member, and Col. Samuel Partridge of Hatfield for its second, and which ruled or led Western Massachusetts through an entire century of its history."
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
In February 1762 the Great and General Court of Massachusetts appointed a committee to sell " nine Townships and 10,000 acres of the Province Lands " in the counties of Hampshire and Berkshire. In accord- ance with its instructions the committee, on June 2, 1762, held a public auction at the Royal Exchange Tavern in King Street, Boston; and the tenth parcel was bid in by one Cornelius Jones for 380 pounds. Ap- parently there was some competitive bidding, for the 10,000 acres had been " set up at three Hundred Pounds." The conditions of the sale were " that with-
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in the space of five years there be residing on said Land twenty five Inhabitants, each to have a Dwelling-House of the Dimensions above mentioned, (24 feet long, 18 feet wide and 7 feet Studd), and each seven acres of Land well cleared and Fenced." See Appendix C.
Probably the same year, 1762, Rev. Cornelius Jones emigrated from Sandisfield in Berkshire where he had been the minister of the Congregational Church since its formation in 1756. The Sandisfield parish must have been small, for his ordination was held in a barn a year before the erection of a meetinghouse, and the congregation the first year totalled only fourteen. Hol- land states that Mr. Jones was dismissed from the Sandisfield Church in 1761. The craze for land which our forebears possessed it is hard for us to realize in these modern times when half the American people are classed as urban. At any rate we find the Reverend Mr. Jones acquiring title to a tract of land four miles square whither he moved his family comprising his wife, two daughters and several sons. The grant reads as follows: -
"A Tract of Land bounded North on the Province Line, East on Land belonging to Messrs. Green and Walker and Bulfinch, South partly on Charlemont, to extend West to make the Contents of Ten Thousand acres to Cornelius Jones for Three Hundred and eighty Pounds, and have received of him Ten Pounds, and taken his Bond, with John Chad- wick for Three Hundred and seventy Pounds."
This act is dated June 11, 1762.
Holland tells us that " he erected a small house of split planks, and brought his family into the wilder- ness where there was not another house within six or seven miles," namely " on the Charlemont ". To this tract he gave the name of Myrifield. The writer has always been skeptical of the story that this name was a corruption of My-rye-field, and believes this to be
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but a pretty myth. Much more likely is it that Myri- field is a poetic spelling of Merryfield; and in fact the map of Green & Walker's Grant drawn in 1779, to show the tract of 7000 acres proposed to be added to Mr. Jones' original purchase, gives the spelling in two places, - Merryfield; while in an old Charle- mont grant of 1774 the spelling is Murryfield.
The ninth of these ten parcels of land which were sold at auction in 1762 was incorporated three years later (1765) under the name of Murrayfield, in honor of William Murray, Lord Mansfield; and it continued under that name until 1783, when the name was changed to Chester. Is it possible that Murrayfield suggested to our early settlers the name of Merryfield, and that later this was modified to Myrifield, - pho- netically somewhat similar but with a distinctly differ- ent spelling?
Mr. Jones is credited with having offered his lands at a low price, which induced others to come in and settle; among whom, Holland states were the follow- ing Worcester County men, - Jonathan Lamb, Arte- mas Ward, Michael Wilson, Nathan Howard, Gideon Chapin, Henry Gleason, Archibald and Joseph Thomas, Matthew Barr, John, Humphrey and William Taylor. Archibald Thomas came from Boston.
The first settlement in the neighboring town of Heath was made by Jonathan Taylor of Charlemont in 1765, three years after Mr. Jones came to Rowe. Hol- land is authority for the following story in regard to the two towns.
"About 1777 a long series of difficulties commenced between Rev. Mr. Leavitt (of Heath) and the people of Charlemont. Some thought Mr. Leavitt preached Armin- ianism. His political sentiments were generally disliked. He did not seem to share in his people's zeal for the Revolu- tion. On one occasion, Rev. Mr. Jones of Rowe came to deal
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with Mr. Leavitt for his religious or political heresies. Mr. Jones, armed with a bayonet fastened to a rake's tail, marched at the head of his parishioners, who were also armed, but what success they met with does not appear."
Mr. Jones was a native of Bellingham and a gradu- ate of Harvard College in the Class of 1752. His labors in Rowe will be taken up in a later chapter. In February 1779, he conveyed to William Parkhurst and Company, of Brookfield, all the lands he owned in Myrifield, some 10,000 acres, for the sum of £9,000 in continental money which was never redeemed. He removed to Whitehall, N. Y. where he died a poor man.
Meanwhile the plantation of Myrifield continued to grow. The eight families of 1770 had increased to 28 families by 1775. By 1784 there were 88 polls, of which 77 were " ratable."
Annual appropriations were made for the " Gospel Schools, Roads and other Necessary charges," and officers were chosen. It was a town in all but name only. The first petition for incorporation was pre- sented to the General Court in September 1779. In September 1782 a committee of three, Joseph Nash, Archibald Thomas and Eldad Corbet, Petitioned the General Court for an act of incorporation, the name to be changed to Exeter. No reason appears for the selec- tion of this name. The petition came up for consider- ation the following month, but failed of passage. In September 1783, a year later, a longer and more detailed petition was submitted which reads as fol- lows : -
" To The Honorable the Great and General Court or assem- bly of the Commonwealth of the Massachusetts.
The petition of the inhabitants of a Grant of land for- merly made to Mr. Cornelius Jones of Ten Thousand acres called by the name of Myrifield in the County of Hampshire Humbly Shews that your petitioners have Repeated by Re-
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quested incorporations into a Township together with some addition from other places Viz Beginning at the S. West Corner of the beforementioned Grant of land, thence Run- ning South two hundred Rods to a Corner, thence Running East 6 Degrees South 1566 Rods to a Corner, thence North 1343 Rods to the New-State line including the abovemen- tioned Grant, together with two Hundred Rods in width from the Town of Charlemont, with some Grants of land West of Charlemont on the South Side of sd Myrifield, also together with 200 Rods in Width, on the East end, from the lands called Green & Walkers -we would at this time Renew our Request that your Honours would Speedily Grant our Request for the privileges of an incorporated Town- ship with the additions before mentioned by the name of Exeter and as this place has been looked upon to be cut in two by the county line crossing the same we Desire the whole be set to the County of Hampshire.
Furthermore as the Honorable Court Resolved an abate- ment of one third part of our Taxes in April 1780, and as it appeared Reasonable to the Committee of the Honorable House last year that the treasurer be Discharged of ye same &c we pray a final Determination may soon take place and as it appeared to the Honorable House last year that there was a mistake in one of the Requisitions for Beef sent to us, and as we had only a Receipt in part, yet it was Right to Discharge us of the whole Notwithstanding we find that we are Ranked with those places that are Delinquent in pay- ing in their proportion. Our prayer is that your Honors would take these matters into your Consideration, that the whole of these affairs may soon be brought to a Conclusion.
We further (illegible) that as we have been under a Necessity for the Support of the Gospel, Schools, Roads and other Necessary charges, to grant money annually and chose officers to collect the same as in Duty Bound. In the Behalf of the inhabitants.
Myrifield Henry Willson - Sept. 12, 1783 Archibald Thomas Benjn Brown
Committee "
This petition came up for action a year later and was finally acted upon favorably in February 1785. It is written in a beautiful hand and with but one word misspelled. Perhaps the author was Archibald Thomas, who had been a deacon in a Boston church.
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The eleventh hour petition (Feb. 1, 1785) of " Jonas Gleason Agent " that " the Land called Fulhams mite not be incorporated with sd Plantation save so much as will Lay it in a square forme," proved ineffectual.
Following is the act of incorporation which was passed by the General Court February 9, 1785.
"An Act for incorporating a Grant of Land, formerly made to Mr. Cornelius Jones, of ten Thousand Acres, called by the name of Myrifield, in the County of Hampshire, together with other Lands adjoining, and the Inhabitants thereon, into a separate Town, by the name of Rowe.
" Whereas a number of the inhabitants of the plantation called Myrifield in the county of Hampshire, have petitioned this Court to be incorporated into a Town, for reasons set forth in their petition, and it appearing to this court that it is expedient that the said plantation be incorporated :
'Sect. 1. Be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the lands hereafter described, viz - Beginning at the southwest corner of the beforemen- tioned grant of land, thence running south two hundred rods to a corner, thence running east six degrees south, one thousand five hundred and sixty-six rods to a corner, thence north one thousand three hundred and forty-three rods to the line of a territory called Vermont, including the above- mentioned grant, together with two hundred rods in width from the town of Charlemont, and from Pierce's, Dennis's, and the whole of Fulham's grant of land west of Charlemont, on the south side of the said Myrifield, also, together with two hundred rods in width on the east end from the land called Green and Walker's lands, together with the inhabi- tants, thereon, be, and they are hereby incorporated into a distinct town, by the name of Rowe, and invested with all the power, privileges and immunities, that towns in this Commonwealth are entitled to, or do or may enjoy accord- ing to law.
Sect. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority afore- said, That Samuel Taylor, of Buckland, Esq. be, and he hereby is empowered to issue his warrant directed to some principal inhabitant within the said town of Rowe, direct- ing him to warn the inhabitants of the said town qualified to vote in town affairs, to assemble at some convenient time
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and place in the same town, to choose all such town officers as by law are to be chosen annually, in the month of March.
Sect. 3. Provided nevertheless, The inhabitants of the said town of Rowe, which were before the passing of this Act inhabitants of any other town or place, shall pay their proportionable part of all such town, county and State taxes, as are already assessed or levied on them by the town or place where they usually were taxed.
Sect. 4. And be it further enacted by the authority afore- said, That the whole and every part of the said town of Rowe be hereafter included within the county of Hamp- shire ; and that the west bound thereof shall be the boundary line, between the counties of Hampshire and Berkshire."
Both petitions called for the name, - Exeter; yet the act established the name, - Rowe. No written evi- dence has ever been found to account for this change. Tradition says that it was made in honor of John Rowe, a well-known Boston merchant and man-of- affairs, and that he promised to give the town a bell. This plan was never carried out, perhaps because at that time there was no suitable place in which to hang the bell, and John Rowe died two years later. Certainly, there is no record today of the existence of such a bell.
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CHAPTER IV.
EARLY TOWN AFFAIRS.
" It is with young Colonies as it is with Trees newly planted; which those Winds as one faith, that are not so boisterous as to blow down, do so far Advantage as to shake them to a greater Fast- ness at the Root."
Hubbard's Indian Wars.
Pursuant to a warrant issued by Samuel Taylor of Buckland, the first town meeting was held March 30, 1785, at which the town officers were chosen as fol- lows : -
Selectmen -
Capt. William Taylor
Isaac Langdon
Moses Streeter
Moderator -
Capt. Benjamin Brown
Town Clerk -
Nathan Foster
Constable -
Archibald Thomas
Tax Collector -
William Heartwell
Ass't Tax Collector
Michael Wilson
Treasurer -
Deacon Jonas Gleason
Assessors -
Nathan Foster
Benjamin Brown
Ambrose Potter
Wardens -
Nathan Foster
Tythingmen -
Jude Foster
Highway Surveyors -
Eldad Corbet
Daniel Coone
Capt. Matthew Barr
Abner Chapin Ambrose Potter
Sealer of Leather -
Hogreaves -
Capt. Matthew Barr John Merrill Daniel Gleason
Apparently it required a considerable length of time to choose these officers, for there was an adjourned meeting April 4, 1785 at " Landlord Potter's " when it was voted to raise £130 " to defray town charges,"
Benjn Shumway
Moses Streeter
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and £20, for " repairing highways," the first appro- priation made by Rowe as a town.
The sum of twenty pounds for roads was found in- sufficient, and at another meeting Sept. 15, 1785 thirty pounds additional were granted. At the same time a committee of three was appointed " to build a Pound at the Northwest corner of the meetinghouse Lot 30 feet square with poles." The meetinghouse which will be discussed in a later chapter stood on the rocky knoll at the southwest corner of the intersection of the roads at the old centre.
The first State election in Rowe was held April 27, 1785 and the vote was as follows : -
Governor
Thomas Cushing - 12
Lieut. Governor Samuel Adams - 10
Senators
David Smead, Esq. 28 Hugh Mcclellan -23
David Saxton Esq. - 24 Hugh Maxwell Esq. - 6
Daniel Whitmore - 21 Samuel Taylor Esq. - 3
In 1791, Joseph Nash, who had been tax collector for a number of years and had been criticized for fail- ing to collect Joseph Steel's taxes three years previ- ous, was found short in his accounts. At a meeting in June 1791, the town voted to take no action in the pro- posal to " support Mr. Joseph Nash in Gaol," but two months later the town voted to take two notes of Zenas Nash (son of Joseph) with his uncle Benjamin Nash's endorsement "for the sum of the Deficiency of the State tax Joseph Nash had to collect one half to be paid in six months and the other half in twelve months - Said notes to be on interest and for cash." In case of failure to produce these notes by August 29th the town was to take land of Zenas Nash appraised by Col. White, Col. Maxwell and Rev. Mr. Leavitt, all three of Heath.
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SHAYS' INSURRECTION.
In common with other towns, Rowe felt the pressure of the times immediately following the Revolutionary War. The drafts for men and money, the scarcity of money and its depreciation in value, the increase in debts, and the want of confidence in government, were " grievances " as they were then called. On August 22, 1786 conventions were held in the counties of Hampshire, Berkshire and Middlesex to " consult on matters of public grievance ". About 1500 men had actually assembled under arms at Northampton and prevented the sitting of the court.
In December 1786, Daniel Shays, who had been a captain in a Massachusetts regiment, marched into Springfield at the head of 300 malcontents and seized the court-house. A month later, state troops put down the insurrection and Shays escaped to Vermont, receiv- ing his pardon in 1788.
There is a tradition in Rowe that one of the Steels, for whom Steele Brook was named, was a sympathizer if not an active participator in this insurrection. At any rate the town on October 2, 1786 chose a Commit- tee of Safety having five members, Deacon Jonas Gleason, Nathan Foster, Eldad Corbet, Joseph Nash and Nathaniel Morrill, " to inspect any Disorders that may arise in this Town in this Juncture of time in which civil law is so much Disturbed and to suppress Criminality as much as possible." At the same meet- ing the town voted " that Joseph Steel and James Trask criminals, be kept Prisoners in and on the cost of this Town untill the said Committee can consult with some other Town or Towns to know what further measures may be taken with them." The records reveal nothing further, but Pressey describes an old yellowed paper bearing the signature of William Steel
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which was an " original Shays' Rebellion document." He states that Steel and eight other men of the locality were Shays' insurgents and that they surrendered to Col. Hugh Maxwell and received their arms again after taking the oath of allegiance at the hands of Squire Wells. From these threads Mr. Pressey weaves a pretty romance with the beautiful valley of upper Steele Brook as the scene, William Steel as Robin Hood, and Elder Carpenter, the first Baptist minister, as Friar Tuck. At that time Samuel Carpenter was a boy eleven years old and was living in Brattleboro. He did not come to Rowe until about 1806 or 1807.
ROADS
The earliest road in Rowe was without any doubt, a rough cart path or " bridle-way " over the mountain from Charlemont to Fort Pelham which bore the name of King's Highway and today is called Norton's Trail. Moses Rice of Charlemont, it will be remem- bered, hauled timbers for the construction of the fort. The second road was probably the road to Heath, fol- lowing in general the trail between Pelham and Shir- ley. It is likely that at first the western terminus was at the house of Cornelius Jones on what is now called the " Old Ford Farm," and that as early as 1770 it was extended to the centre of the town. The old Heath road led straight on from Blakeslee's over the hill down to the Hamilton place.
The earliest road map of Rowe is that furnished to the state in 1793 by the selectmen. Two ruled parallel lines are drawn due north and south which bisect the paralellogram of Rowe. They cross Pelham Brook between the sawmill and "corn mill " of Moses Rogers. The lower section of this road is called the " south road to Charlemont " and the upper section
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HISTORY OF ROWE
is called the " north road to Readsborough." Leaving the southern road just north of Rogers' mills and drawn with free hand parallel with the brook is the " southwest road to Zoar." In the exact centre on the west side of this main artery of travel is the meeting- house. The " east road to Heath," is placed on the map exactly as it is located today, but with its western terminus at the northeast corner of the meetinghouse lot,-namely at the centre of the town. However, from the centre to Tuttle's corner the road is drawn as a straight line, as it formerly went over rather than around the hill east of the Unitarian Meetinghouse. The " north road to Whitingham " leaving the Heath road at Tuttle's corner is drawn as a straight line.
At a town meeting March 13, 1786, the town " estab- lished " (accepted and perhaps improved) the " road from the top of the Mountain south of John Adamses to William Hartwells nearly as it now goes two rods wide." The town also voted
" to establish the main road through this Town east and west begins on the east line of the old Myrifield plot (200 rods west of present town line) at Capt. Benjn Browns southeast corner and David Weer's South east corner thence running westward between said lots sixty nine rods thence nearly south west eleven rods in David Weer's and fifty four rods in Lieut. Gideon Chapins land to a large rock and stones on it thence west 45 rods to the summit of a rise of ground on the west side of a small Brook (near the present East schoolhouse) to a pile of stones thence westerly 24 rods to the bridge over a large Brook (Pelham) near Gideon Chapins house (Kendrick-Tuttle place) and as it is now traveled to the sd house thence in a strait line to the south west corner of Aaron Gleason Junr farm and from thence proceeding as the road is now traveled to the meeting-house passing between Lieut. John Wells house and Barn (old Wells-Ford Farm) runs by the south side of Daniel Coons house and to the bridge North of the clay pitt thence on the north line of Dr. I. W. Claries (Clary) farm to the pint lof a ledge of rocks leaving said ledge on the north side of said road and passing between Nathan Foster Jr. and Jude
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Fosters Lots to the meetinghouse aforesaid from the meet- inghouse southerly on a strait line to the southeast corner of Willm Hartwell lot thence Westerly (opposite Edward Wright's) between sd Hartwells and Nathan Wheelers lots to the bridge near the southwest corner of said Hartwells lot thence running west about 10 D north as it is now traveled passing between Phinehas Woods and Michael Wilsons farms and on the north line of Nathaniel Mor- rills farm from thence between Benjn Shumways (Abbott White's) and Jonathan Whites farm on the south line of Daniel McAllesters farm and in the same direction to the West line of Lieut. Abner Chapins farme (Truesdell) and closes. The above road established four rods in width from end to end."
At the same time (March 13, 1786) the town voted to " establish a road two rods wide from " William Steels North east corner " to Lieut. Abner Chapin's " to the main road leading east and west through the Town." This is the west road from Obed Peck's to the foot of the hill by Steele Brook.
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