USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Rowe > History of Rowe, Massachusetts > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
Western migration had serious effect on the agricul- tural districts in the East. The total population of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, in 1800 was 50,000. In 1820 it amounted to 792,000 and by 1840 it had increased to 2,967,000. Western soil is much richer and New England hill towns have found it difficult to compete. Then too, the increase in mills and factories in the valley towns has drawn from Rowe's younger generations. North Adams, Shel- burne Falls, Greenfield, Deerfield, Millers Falls, Athol, Orange, Northampton and Springfield, all are now the homes of Rowe's sons and daughters.
One hundred years ago, Rowe was largely self-sup- porting and economically independent. Here was pro- duced practically all the necessary food, wool for clothing, leather for shoes, lumber for building. Sugar was extracted from sugar maples. Salt and iron implements were purchased with the surplus produce. There was little cash and trade was a system of bar- ter. (See Appendix C.)
As the town was far from the metropolis, modern in- ventions were slow to come into use. The cradle scythe, for instance, was invented in 1803 but it was not used in Rowe until some years later. Nearly every part of the work of the farm except plowing, harrow-
104
HISTORY OF ROWE
ing and drawing heavy loads, was done by hand, that is with tools handled by human muscles. Small grain was sown broadcast, reaped with a cradle, and threshed with a flail. Hay was mown with a scythe (usually by several mowers advancing in echelon formation), raked and pitched by hand. The cast-iron plow was invented in 1797 but was not in general use in this country until 1825. A list of farming tools in 1800 would probably include the clumsy plow with wrought- iron share, wooden mold-board, and heavy beam and handles ; the wooden rake and wooden fork; the scythe, sickle and flail. It required great strength to use these primitive tools, and one often hears nowadays that our grandfathers were stronger than those of the present generation.
The first mowing machine was patented in 1831 but did not come into general use for many years. In the Beers' Atlas of Franklin County in 1871, James M. Ford of Rowe is put down as the agent for Patent Sugar Evaporators, "Totman's Horse Power and Wood Mill," and " Whittemore, Belcher and Com- pany's Agricultural Implements." A few of Walter A. Wood's machines have come onto Rowe farms. These have been manufactured since 1851 in the neigh- boring town of Hoosac Falls, N. Y. Western products including such makes as Adriance, Deering and McCor- mick, are also well known.
In the Atlas of 1871, E. E. Amidon is described as a " Dealer in Dry Goods, Groceries, Hardware, Crock- ery, Women's and Children's Boots and Shoes, Kero- sene Oil and all its Fixtures, and all goods usually found in a country store." George Browning is described as a " Harness Manufacturer;" David Henry is a " Manufacturer and Dealer in Lumber, Flour, Feed and Meal;" and H. A. Kendrick is a
105
MASSACHUSETTS
" Manufacturer and Dealer in all kinds of Lumber, Chair Stock, Broom Handles, etc."
The railroad from Fitchburg to Greenfield (Ver- mont and Massachusetts R. R.) was opened in April 1849. In 1847 Rowe citizens first began to talk of a railroad up the Deerfield valley through Zoar. The Troy and Greenfield charter was granted in 1848 and the company organized the following year. The sec- tion from North Adams to the State Line, about six miles in length, was opened in 1859 and the section from the Tunnel to Greenfield in 1868. Rowe in com- mon with her neighbors, had been asked to contribute to the expense of construction, but she declined. The Zoar station which is a scant four miles from the Rowe postoffice is really the port of entry and depar- ture for the Romans (Rowe-mans), yet it is in the township of Charlemont. Hoosac Tunnel Station, located a half mile from the Eastern Portal on the left bank of the Deerfield, is within the borders of Rowe.
Hoosac Tunnel Station is also the southern terminus of the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington R. R. This road was chartered in December 1886 and acquired the Massachusetts portion of the line of the Deerfield River Co., and leased the Vermont portion. On Janu- ary 1, 1892 the Deerfield River Co., and the Deerfield Valley R. R. Co. were merged. The road in general follows the Deerfield River in a northerly direction to Wilmington, Vermont, a distance of 24 1/2 miles. The part in Massachusetts, some eight miles, is located entirely in Rowe, and there is a station at Monroe Bridge, about three miles from the Rowe postoffice. The original survey called for two other stations in Rowe, one to be called Heywood's, at the foot of the slope beneath Pulpit Rock, and one to be called Logan's, some two miles north of Hoosac Tunnel Sta-
106
HISTORY OF ROWE
tion; but the traffic has never warranted their estab- lishment. The guage was three feet prior to 1915 when at considerable expense it was changed to the standard measure of four feet, eight and one-half inches, thereby affording much greater facility in the handling of freight at Hoosac Tunnel.
One young fellow whose father owned a farm a short distance south of the present Baptist Church, desirous of attending a dance at the town hall and having no scruples against disobeying parental orders, walked to Zoar, rode by train to Hoosac Tunnel, thence by train to Monroe Bridge, and then walked up the hill to the Rowe town hall, - thus circumventing a distance of sixteen miles to reach his objective point which was a scant half-mile from home.
Intoxicating liquors at times have sapped the vital- ity of Rowe's economic progress. Rum had to be drunk on all occasions even when the meetinghouse frame was raised. Some men were repairing the roads and left a jug of rum on the wagon by the flat rock near the old centre, so that a mischievous boy con- sumed a large amount with fatal results. But liquor has not always been confined to public occasions; and it was with full recognition of this fact that William A. Hicks, having given bonds, was appointed by the selectmen in 1864 an " agent to purchase Intoxicating Liquors and to sell the same at his dwelling House in the town of Rowe to be used in the Arts or for Medi- cinal, Chemical and Mechanical Purposes and no other." He received a salary of $15 for this service.
George Bennet is named as a blacksmith in 1781. Ebenezer Starr maintained a blacksmith shop a short distance southeast of the cross roads at the old centre, but with the flow of the tide to Factory Village or Slab City he moved his establishment down the hill. Peter
107
MASSACHUSETTS
and Philo Sibley and the latter's son Joseph later con- ducted such a thriving business that there were three forges necessary; and it was nothing exceptional to shoe in one day 16 horses and eight, ten and even twelve yokes of oxen, besides turning the shoes and nails. Farmers drove in from Florida, Monroe, Reads- boro, Whitingham and Heath. The last blacksmith, John Richards, left town in 1910. (Charles Newell in 1922 re-opened the shop.)
Today, accumulated wealth usually comprises invest- ment securities (stocks and bonds), or rented real estate. One hundred years ago both these forms of investment were rare and the average young man when starting out in life, looked forward to the time when he could claim title to a large farm, consisting not alone of buildings and cattle, but of tilled acres. It was a comparatively simple matter to put up a house and barn, but it required years of effort to clear land and cultivate the soil. Witness the assessed valuation in 1835 of the Adams farm, one of the best in Rowe.
1 house $250
315 acres of land 2000
$2250
2 oxen $60 - 24 cows $432
492
20 sheep $40 - 1 horse $65
105
4 swine $16
16
$ 2863
The land here is valued at nearly three-quarters of the total. This, then, is the key to the early economic situ- ation, the answer to the question as to why our ances- tors moved up to these rocky hills to take up large tracts of land.
A considerable amount of timber has been cut on the Rowe hills and the statement has been heard that there is more money in allowing pasture land to grow up to
108
HISTORY OF ROWE
pine trees. A Massachusetts farmer some years ago sold to a man operating a portable saw-mill some white pine which cut a million board feet. Instead of receiving $7000 which would have been a fair price (at $7 per thousand at that time) he accepted $1,200. In the future it is well to remember that advice can always be obtained from the State Forester at Boston.
The introduction of national prohibition apparently has permanently raised the price of apples, and there is no reason why Rowe farmers cannot reap good prof- its from apple raising. Sugar maples yield a bounti- ful supply of sap which can be profitably exported in the form of syrup and sugar.
Sheep husbandry was once a thriving industry in Rowe. With Boston the chief wool market of this country and with an increasing demand in the east for mutton, increased production might be expected. The dog menace has been ever-present, but can be mini- mized by co-operation. To be sure the severe win- ters necessitate extra provision for shelter and feed, but the winters are no severer than they were one hun- dred years ago.
In the United States on the average, in every three families one is devoted entirely to agriculture. The movement from the farms has been more or less gen- eral and not due so much to any local conditions; but a movement back to the land is necessary. After all, the city " cliff-dwellers " do not know half the pleasure of living.
" The winter affords many enjoyments to mankind in general, but to no one class of men more, than to the indus- trious husbandman, who now sets down at leisure sur- rounded by all the comforts and necessaries of life pleas- ingly spending the long winter's evenings in social converse as by reading some useful and entertaining author."
Old Farmer's Almanack -1795.
109
MASSACHUSETTS
Appendix A.
The history of Monroe could well fill a small volume by itself and only a brief sketch can here be inserted. Daniel Canedy of Colrain is said to have been the first settler in that part of Rowe which lay west of the Deer- field. He brought his family about the year 1800, and was soon followed by Ebenezer Hayward, Samuel and Daniel Gore and three Ballou brothers, David, Ben- jamin and Nathan. David Ballou was the first of the brothers to take up land and we find his name in the seating of the meetinghouse in 1802. In 1804 we find David Ballou on the jury list for the " Inferior Court," but no mention is made of the Gores or Dan- iel Canedy. The latter died in 1826 at the age of 55 and Daniel Gore died in 1859 leaving a number of sons, - Hiram, Lowell, Moses, Asahel and Luther.
Difficulty of travel was experienced at an early date and in 1801 the inhabitants petitioned the town of Rowe to " set off the land that lies west of Deerfield in this Town to be annexed to a gore of land adjoining to it." The town acquiesced provided the General Court allowed it, but it was not to be just yet. In Octo- ber 1803 the town voted " that the inhabitants of the Town west of Deerfield River, be exempt from paying their School and Highway Taxes and that they have the privilege of Schooling and working out their own money in their own neighborhood." From 1804 to 1822 a Ballou was on the school committee, David, Nathan, Stephen or Maturin, the sons of Nathan.
The petition in December 1820 to the General Court asking for incorporation recites that the part of Rowe west of the Deerfield River " is commonly impassable so as to cause the settlers in the west part to go around by the way of Readsboro and Whitingham, Vt. to get to the center of the town - and contains about 1500
110
HISTORY OF ROWE
acres and 14 families. The unincorporated part con- tains 4500 acres and 15 families." The round-about way referred to, undoubtedly was the road from the " four-corners " to South Readsboro, thence across the river near the present Sherman's, and up the road to Rowe from " Lime Hollow."
December 24, 1821, the town voted to allow the land west of the river to be set off, and February 21, 1822 the town of Monroe was incorporated, taking the name of President James Monroe.
Appendix B.
In 1832 Rev. Preserved Smith was assessed on the following property : -
1 House and Barn $150
25 Acres Land
450
$600
1 Horse and colt
42
1 Cow
20
Money at interest
1200
1262
$ 1862
Tax -$75.21 !
It would be interesting to know where he had his money at interest. Remember that his annual salary was but $300.
The Census reports show the population of Rowe as follows : -
1790 - 443
1875
661
1800 -
575
1880
502
1810 - 839
1885
582
1820 - 851
1890
541
1830
716
1895
498
1840 - 703
1900
549
1850 - 659
1905
533
1855
601
1910
456
1860
619
1915
424
1865
- 563
1920
333
1870
- 581
111
MASSACHUSETTS
On Feb. 21, 1822 Monroe was incorporated and of course this resulted in a loss to Rowe. The population of Monroe in 1830 was 265; in 1840, 282; in 1850, 254; which if added to Rowe would show the largest aggre- gate between 1830 and 1850. The high mark for Heath was 1199 in 1830.
Appendix C.
A petition dated January 14, 1780 was sent to the General Court seeking a remission of the fine of £600, and for an abatement of taxes. The petition set forth that the town was utterly unable to raise the sums " repeatedly required " of it; that of the 10,000 acres in that plantation, only 7,000 were habitable, not a tenth part of which was under any kind of improve- ment; that ten years before (1770), there were but eight families in the place which was increased to 28 families when the war began, - most of which were so poor as to be unable to pay the small cost of lands to settle on; that those who had removed thither since the war began were such as had been reduced from com- fortable livings, to the necessity of earning, by hard labor, on small tracts of wild land, the means of pur- chasing supplies to be brought from a distance. That the earlier settlers were just beginning to make im- provements when the war broke out, and being, to a man, engaged in the popular cause, and more than ordinarily " exposed unto alarms," even in seed- time and harvest-time, they had been obliged to pur- chase more than half of their provisions, at a distance of from ten to thirty miles, at enormous prices, for which their improvements were not sufficient to yield them an equivalent; that, through all their adversities, they had " supported the gospel," which they could
112
HISTORY OF ROWE
not continue to do if their burdens should be increased ; that, in respect to the fine of £600, they had sent only one of the two men required, because, though the rate was one man for 361/2 ratable polls, they (as they had not more than 48 polls at the time of the requisi- tion) thought the sending of one man, a sufficient com- pliance; in which the superintendent, who accepted their man, concurred; that they had nothing to sell wherewith to procure money, - they being above one hundred miles from any market, and obliged to pay enormous prices for salt and other necessaries (" even the price of seven bushels of rye for a bushel of salt ") ; that, being a new plantation, they, within a few years had been obliged to build, through the woods, all the roads in the vicinity, and even roads to other adjoining places several miles distant, and to keep these roads in repair at their own expense, which required, annually the average labor of ten days per man; notwithstanding which, the country was so rug- ged that it required four good oxen, and at least the greater part of one day, " to convey half a ton of burthen, in our best road, for the distance of five or six miles from this place," and that by this means only could they transport such necessaries of life as they purchased at a distance. That they had been obliged to borrow money to pay the bounties and travel of sol- diers, and to make good the depreciation of the cur- rency, they having no money of their own.
This is an interesting picture of life in the old plan- tation days with all its hardships. It may be of inter- est to know that the General Court remitted the £600 fine and abated one third of the taxes. The " best road " was probably that between the meetinghouse and Charlemont which led over the mountain.
113
MASSACHUSETTS
Appendix D.
FULHAM GRANT.
On June 11, 1772 the General Court passed the following resolutions, -
" that there be granted to Francis Fullam his Heirs and as- signs five hundred acres of Land to be laid out in an unap- propriated tract of Land in the western part of the Province adjoining to ten thousand acres granted to Cornelius Jones, called Merrifield, to satisfy his proportion of the Grant in his Petition mentioned, which he lost by the runing New- hampshire line, and that the Petitioner at his own cost cause the same to be laid out by skilful Surveyor and Chainmen under oath, and return a plan of the same to this Court for acceptance within twelve months."
The petition was made by Francis Fullam (Fulham) of Fitchburgh (Turkey Hills) " in lieu of his propor- tion of a Township formerly granted to the Soldiers under Command of Capt. John Lovewell, which fell into Newhampshire."
Beginning at the Southwest corner of "Jones's Grant," so-called
W 6ºN
197 rods
S 6°W
150
E 6°S
250
S
6°W
40
E
6°S
80
S
6°W
80
E
6°S
100
N
6°E
270
W 6°N
240
to south line of Jones's Grant on said line.
The final ratification was made March 5, 1773.
Appendix E.
GREEN AND WALKER GRANT.
On December 8, 1741 the General Court granted a tract comprising 8575 acres " northwest of Deerfield," which today represents the greater part of the town of Heath, to Joseph Green, Isaac Walker, Byfield Lyde,
.
114
HISTORY OF ROWE
and John Green. In 1751, Joseph Green, Isaac Walker and Thomas Bulfinch, petitioned for another tract to comprise " 6000 acres west of a tract of 8575 acres owned by them in order to compleat a Settlement they propose to make," but nothing ever came of it; and it was reserved for Cornelius Jones in 1762 to purchase these 6000 acres with 4000 more.
BULLOCK'S GRANT.
In April 1771 there was granted to William Bullock some six square miles comprising roughly the present town of Savoy and an irregular tract north of this which included a narrow strip in Florida adjoining the Bernardstown Grant on the east and including the Deerfield River at the Great Bend, with a few acres of Rowe, and in Monroe bordering the Bernardstown Grant on the north.
Appendix F.
An interesting document in the State Archives is the assessors' return of the Plantation of Myrifield for 1784, compiled by Henry Willson and Archibald Thomas, Assessors. They rated the property as fol- lows, -
Improved Lands
Upland mowing Meadow mowing Pastering and tillage
40 shillings per acre
20
40
Unimproved Land
6 shillings, 8 pence per acre
Unimprovable Land
1 shilling per acre
Dwelling Houses
6 pounds each
Barns
4
Mills
5
Horses
6
Oxen
8
Cows
3
2 year olds
2
66
60
1 year old
1
Sheep
3 shillings each
Swine
20
115
MASSACHUSETTS
There were but nine dwelling houses and the assess- ors stated that the " Remainder are Loghuts -which in the year 1780 were valued at 20/ each, since which they are so crumbled Down, that they have been not Rated since."
The return shows 88 polls, of which number 77 were " rateable," nine dwelling houses, 18 barns, two mills, 93 acres of " tillage of land," 74 acres of " English and Upland mowing ", 210 acres of Fresh-meadow and newly-cleared mowing land, 206 acres of pastur- age, 5679 acres of unimproved and 3724 acres of unim- provable land, 38 horses, 3 two-year old colts, 3 one- year old colts, 44 oxen, 27 neat cattle three-years old, 46 two-years old, and 74 one-year old, 89 cows four years old or more, 230 sheep, and 98 swine.
Following are the names of the tax-payers in 1784, the year before incorporation.
Moses Streeter
Benj. Shumway
Nath1 Goodspeed
Isaac Lankton
Eben" Ingersol
Isaac W. Clary
Eldad Corbet
Jude Foster
Jonathan Marsh
Matthew Barr
Abner Chapin
Obed Foote
Joseph Steel
Humphrey Taylor
Archld Thomas
Stephen Gleason
Joseph Thomas
Michael Willson
Nathan Wheeler
Isaac Cummings
Ambrose Potter
Henry Willson
Darius Barr
Nath1 Corbet
Daniel McCoon
Moses Rogers
Nathan Foster
John Adams
John Hibbert
Mr. Jones
Shubael Nash
Eli Towne
John McNitt
Phebe Howard, Guardn
Jonas Gleason
Henry Willson, Junr
Consider Brown
Paul Thayer
Noah Brown
Amos Gleason
Richard Mason
William Taylor
Daniel McAllester
Oliver Wilder
Ephraim Hill
Nathan Wood
116
HISTORY OF ROWE
Aaron Gleason, Junr
Jonathan White
Henry Gleason
Nathan1 Merril
Aaron Gleason
Benj. Brown
Jonathan Gleason
Eli Colton
Gideon Chapin
James Merril
Ellet Makepeace
Nath1 Merril Junr
Gad Chapin
David Weer
Shadrach Chapin
William Weer
Charles Handy
Timothy Knowlton
David Barr
Asa Foster
Daniel Gleason
Asa Gleason
Standish Foster
Stephen Brown
Richard Ingersol
Joel Hill
Joseph Nash
Zenas Nash
William Steel
Warren Willson
The Direct Tax made by the State in October 1798, (the original is in the library of the N. E. Historic & Genealogical Society) shows that Rowe then had 31 dwelling houses, which figure compares with nine in 1780.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.