USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Rowe > History of Rowe, Massachusetts, third ed > Part 7
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The writer well remembers being driven up the hill to Rowe by Jude Tuttle in his sleigh one winter's day; and the driver to show his skill founded on long experience, under- took without slowing up to thrust a large bunch of letters and papers bound for the western part of the town into the narrow aperture of the wooden mail box, when a sudden jerk of the horse threw him slightly off-balance and every piece fell into the snow.
The railroad early in 1868 was extended west to Shelburne Falls and travellers were compelled to continue their jour- ney by stage to North Adams. A stage left Shelburne Falls and another left North Adams each day shortly after noon, arriving about six o'clock. Stops for change of mail were made at Charlemont, Zoar and Florida. When the rail- road reached the eastern end of the terminal the route was shortened and six-horse stages were established. It was an exciting trip as the horses were driven at full trot from the top of the mountain to the foot. The roads were rough, yet no serious accident ever happened.
POUNDS
There have been town pounds at various places. In September 1785 a committee was chosen "to build a Pound at the Northwest corner of the meeting house Lot 30 feet square with poles," which was the first town pound; but
*Since the discontinuance of passenger train service west of Green- field in 1958, the mail arrives by truck at Charlemont and thence by local stage to Rowe twice daily. The last to use a horse-drawn vehicle was William T. Upton until 1941.
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HISTORY OF ROWE
it must have been a temporary affair, for in 1794 it was "voted to build a pound thirty eight feet square seven feet high from the top of the sills to be framed with sills and plates and sawed rails 12 feet long framed into posts suffi- cient for said pound .... be well underpined with stone six inches from the ground on the highest spot and the sills laid level." It was placed on the northwest corner of Am- brose Potter's lot. Mr. Potter was the lowest bidder, was paid £5-10 in neat cattle, and became the pound-keeper. In 1822 the town voted to establish as the pound, "the Barn Yard owned by Solomon Read, near the Meeting-house." The stone pound with wooden gate on the West road was built in 1835. It was restored in 1957 with a replica of the original wooden gate.
BURYING-GROUNDS
The "center cemetery" or "north yard", as it has been called, contains the oldest gravestones in Rowe. In a deed dated March 13, 1792,* from Cornelius Jones, two acres for a meetinghouse and 17 1/2 square rods for a burying ground were given to the town of Rowe. The three oldest grave stones are those of the children of Deacon William Hartwell and his wife Mary Hartwell. All three bear the date 1777 ** and are Lovell aged 2; Daniel, aged 5; and Mary C., aged 8. The next in point of chronology in the stone of Andrew Nelson who died in 1786 at the age of 31.
In 1802 it was voted "to allow Sherman Langdon ten Dollars for half an acre of land where the Burying place is near his house . .. or three quarters at fifteen Dollars." This represented the actual transfer of the land now known
*This date may have been added long after the conveyance, for Mr. Jones had sold all his lands in 1779 (See Chap. 3).
** John H. Thompson in his Historical Address at Heath in 1885, stated "In 1777 an epidemic prevailed along the river and on the hill which was thought to have been brought from the camp by the soldiers who came to help, and many died."
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MASSACHUSETTS
as the West yard, but it was seven years before (1795) that a second sexton was elected to care for this cemetery. Thad- deus Merrill was so honoured. He lived a scant half mile north of the West yard and the gravestone marking the grave of his two-year old son David who died July 8, 1788, is the oldest. The West and North cemeteries are main- tained by the town.
The oldest marked grave in the East yard is that of Henry Babbitt dated November 1828. However, in March 1820, there was an article in the warrant, "to hear the re- port of the committee for repairing the east burying ground ... " At the same meeting it was "voted to choose a Committee of three to invite the People and attend to fencing" the "Burying Grounds". Joseph Chapin was the first sexton for the East yard, in 1829.
On the so-called "upper Noyes Wheeler lot," about three quarters of a mile west of the old Readsboro Road and a little distance east of Deerfield River, a half mile from the Vermont line, are four gravestones. The oldest is that of Thomas Wilcox who died in 1814 at the age of 77.
The Cressy-Peck burying ground on the Old Cressy farm in the southwest part of the town is another private yard. The oldest dated stone is marked 1828, but there are two fieldstones without inscription which appear to be older.
The burying ground at Monroe Four Corners was just west of Rowe and the oldest gravestone bears the date of 1821 and the initials K. R. and C. R. Nathan Ballou, the writer's grandmother's grandfather, was buried there in 1838.
One of Rowe's old "characters" once lived on the Ebene- zer Starr-Browning place midway between the old and new centres, and the story is told that his grave bears this epi- taph,-
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HISTORY OF ROWE
"Here lies the body of old John Dodge, Who always dodged an evil; But after dodging all he could, He could not dodge the Devil."
In the East yard is a marble headstone erected to Angeline R. Chapin, wife of Lyman T. Chapin, who died in 1853. In- serted in a square cut in the stone, is a daguerreotype of Mrs. Chapin which in 1922 was in an excellent state of pre- servation. There is a similar cut but no daguerreotype in a neighboring stone erected in 1858. The writer remem- bers several of these cut stones in the Whitingham cemetery and one daguerreotype was legible before it was removed. In fact, it was not uncommon to insert these likenesses in gravestones in other parts of New England in the 1850's.
In the West yard we find several stones of special interest. One is erected to David Barrett who died "at Wms. College 4, April 1825 AE 16."
Another bears the name of Miss Anna Searls who died in 1832 at the age of 60. The stone in its solitary position testifies to the single loneliness of the lady. There are also two very old native stones crudely worked, one with the initials W. T. and the other E. T. Can this be that of William Taylor, the town's first selectman? Another stone in a remote corner is that of "Margaret O'Flaherty Late from Ireland," who died in 1848 at the age of 20. What induc- ed this young girl to migrate to the hill-tops of Rowe? Did she die friendless? We trust not, for though her grave is removed from the others, it is provided with both headstone and footstone.
POSTMASTERS
Following is a list of the postmasters who have served at Rowe, from the establishment of the office to the present time, together with the dates of their appointment,-
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MASSACHUSETTS
Samuel H. Reed
January 27, 1820
Samuel H. Reed
April 27, 1837
John Ballou
March 31, 1854
Edward Wright
March 16, 1868
George M. Ballou
March 17, 1873
Edmund E. Amidon
March 25, 1875
Benjamin T. Henry
July 21, 1884
Gilbert A. Christie
October 8, 1914
Mrs. Grace G. Stanford
July 13, 1917
William T. Arms
November 3, 1938
Mrs. Augusta Bjork
October 12, 1940
Wendell W. Bjork
December 1, 1946
The above names and dates were furnished by the U. S. Post Office Department, but tradition would add the names of Solomon Reed, Solomon R. Drury, and John C. Drury. The post office was at the old center until 1874 or 1875 when it was removed to the village.
The representatives to the General Court for Rowe have been as follows, ----
1831 Col. Noah Wells 1842 William Taylor
1832 Ebenezer Merrill 1843 Samuel H. Reed
1833 Col. Noah Wells
1846 Solomon R. Drury
1835 Samuel H. Reed 1848 Solomon Amidon
1836 Samuel H. Reed
1851 Col. Noah Wells
1837 Moses Gleason
1852 Col. Noah Wells
1839 Solomon Reed
1853 John C. Drury
1841 William Taylor 1854 Col. Noah Wells
In the other years, Rowe sent no representative. In 1857, the state was apportioned under the revised constitu- tion, with one representative for 850 votes, and the district included besides Rowe,-Buckland, Charlemont, Heath and Monroe. From Rowe, Wm. Sanford represented the dis- trict in 1861; Rev. Samuel P. Everett in 1866 and again in 1871; Veniah M. Porter in 1881 and 1882; Charles B. Newell in 1891, and Henry D. Wright in 1912, 1913 and 1914.
FREEMASONRY
In June 1806, ten citizens petitioned the Grand Lodge at Boston for a subordinate lodge of masons in Rowe to be called Mountain Lodge; and three months later, September
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HISTORY OF ROWE
9, 1806, the charter was duly granted. The names of the incorporating brothers are: John Wells, Pardon Haynes, Ze- dediah Barrett, Selah Munson, Joel Hall, Zebulon Benton, Jonathan White, Alfred Olds, Francis Porter and Caleb Blakeslee. The name Mountain Lodge seems particularly appropriate not only as descriptive of its locality, but as representing the strength, stability and endurance of free- masonry. Local tradition has it that meetings were held in the two-story house later occupied by Deacon John Thomas. Such records that may have been kept, have long since disappeared, and we only know that twelve years later, December 1818, on petition of the Grand Lodge sign- ed by Joel Hall, Zedediah Barrett, Zebulon Benton, Alfred Olds, Pardon Haynes and several others, the Lodge was re- moved to Colrain. Sixteen brothers followed the charter
to its new location. The new membership committee was selected from five towns: Colrain, Shelburne, Rowe, Charle- mont and Halifax, Vt. In 1832 the lodge was suspended and in 1856 it was reorganized at Shelburne Falls by eight surviving members, the charter having been safely kept by the Master of the Lodge. At Shelburne Falls it has en- joyed a prosperous career without further interruption.
GRANGE
Rowe Grange #167 was organized June 15, 1888 with C. C. Wheaton as Master and A. A. Shippee as Overseer. There is no record of the number of members and it lasted only until February 2, 1889.
The Grange again came to Rowe October 7, 1900 with a charter list of 40 members. The only living charter mem- ber is Roscoe Fisk of Charlemont. B. C. Newell was the first Master and Mr. Fisk Overseer. The Grange took an active interest in the Social, Cultural, and Agri- cultural life of the town, growing in membership. until World War I when other interests interferred. The
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Master Edward Henderson went into the army and the Grange again disbanded.
In 1946 people became interested and Rowe Grange was again reorganized with a charter list of 40 members. Ben- jamin Bjork was elected Master and Robert Swenson Over- seer. The Grange now takes an active part in local activi- ties, sponsoring the 4-H Clubs, First Aid Training classes and other varied projects. In 1960 there are 85 members with several of these coming from nearby towns. Under the leadership of Edward Stafford of Charlemont the Grange is growing in membership and plans a continued interest in the wellbeing of the town and its people.
THE ROWE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The first meeting of the Rowe Historical Society was held on November 30, 1957 and the following year on July 7, 1958 it received its Charter of Incorporation. The incor- porators included the following: John H. Williams, Jr., Wen- dell W. Bjork, Edith M. Kloetzle, Anne G. Bond, Alice V. Truesdell, J. Henry Stanford, Dorothy N. Stevens, Lucy J. Avery, Arvon G. Palmer, Edward C. Henderson and Nancy N. Williams.
The first officers were John H. Williams, Jr., President; Wendell W. Bjork, First Vice-President; Dorothy N. Stevens, Second Vice-President; Edith M. Kloetzle, Treasurer; Dorothy N. Stevens, Financial Secretary and Assistant Treasurer; and Anne G. Bond, Corresponding Secretary. There were 92 Charter Members and of these 82 were annual members, 3 were contributing members, and 7 were life members.
According to the By-Laws the purpose of the organization is for:
"Collecting and preserving historical records and data of persons, places and events in and associated with Rowe, Massachusetts.
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HISTORY OF ROWE
Collecting, preserving and maintaining an historical library and a museum of historical relics and articles of historical interest.
Leasing, buying, selling and maintaining such and so much real estate as may be necessary for the purpose of said corporation.
Awakening and maintaining public interest in all matters relating to the history of the Town of Rowe."
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MASSACHUSETTS
CHAPTER VIII
JOHN ROWE
"We shall never be all of one mind in our political principles. I desire no more candour from those who differ from me, than I ever have been, and ever shall be ready to shew to them." Thomas Hutchinson.
We have seen in a previous chapter that the Legislature bestowed upon the town in 1785, the name, not of Exeter as was asked for by the petitioners, but of Rowe, in all proba- bility in honor of John Rowe, a well-to-do Boston merchant and man of affairs.
John Rowe was born in Exeter, England, November 27, 1715, the oldest of the eleven children of Joseph and Mary Rowe. Three of the sons came to America, John, Jacob and William Syntol. John must have come over when a young man, as in 1736 he purchased a warehouse on Long Wharf, from which fact by the way, we infer that he brought some means with him. William Syntol came in 1749 or 1750 to visit his brothers and then sailed to Oporto. Jacob came seven years after John, later went to Quebec where he be- came assistant commissary general; and after John's death returned to Boston. Jacob's descendants, through his son John, are the only members of the family in America today.
John Rowe in 1743 married Hannah Speakman, a beauti- ful and accomplished woman, whose sisters married Ralph Inman, the Cambridge Loyalist. The Rowes were child- less, but their house was often filled with young people, Mrs. Rowe's nephews, the Speakmans and Inmans, her nieces the Inmans and her cousin John Inman. They adopted Mrs. Rowe's niece, Susanna Inman. Susanna or "Sukey" as she was called by her uncle John, married September 1, 1772, at the age of eighteen, Captain John Linzee, then in command of the British warship "Beaver". Three days
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HISTORY OF ROWE
after the wedding Captain Linzee sailed away with his bride, not to return until the outbreak of the Revolution. Or Easter Sunday, April 16, 1775 they entered Boston harbor and the Linzees with their first-born at once were welcomed to the home of the Rowes. April 19, 1775, John Rowe re- cords in his diary, "Captain Linzee and Capt. Collins in two small armed vessels were ordered to bring off the troops to Boston, but Lord Percy and General Smith thought proper to encamp on Bunker Hill this night." This of course, refers to the disastrous expedition of the British to Concord and the ignominious retreat to Charlestown. Mrs. Linzee and her child remained with the Rowes until January 1776 and Captain Linzee visited them frequently. After Sukey Inman's marriage, John Rowe adopted Jack, son of his brother Jacob who was then at Quebec.
Rowe became one of the principal merchants of Boston. His imported merchandise included such varied articles as salt, teas, wines, silk stockings, Spanish silk, ribbons, linens and woolens. He was one of the Proprietors of Long Wharf, and today Rowe's Wharf bears his name. His ships crossed the ocean and entered the coastwise trade. He was part owner of one of the ships which brought over the tea destined to be thrown into the harbor, and in his diary he records: "I would rather have lost five hundred Guineas than Bruce should have taken any of this Tea on board his Ship." There is a tradition that Rowe sat on the platform with Samuel Adams in the Old South Meeting House on the evening of Dec. 16, 1773, and uttered the prophecy, "Who knows how tea will mingle with salt water;" but his diary records a different story. "Dec. 16. I being a little Un- well staid at home all Day and all the evening . . . A num- ber of People appearing in Indian Dresses went on board the three Ships Hall, Bruce and Coffin, they opened the Hatches, hoisted out the Tea and flung it overboard-this might I believe have been prevented. I am sincerely sorry
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HISTORY OF ROWE
it is natural for a man of property to be repelled by the thought of forcible resistance to the established government. Nevertheless, Rowe was not a Loyalist. He endeavored to steer a middle course. His sympathies for the most part were with his countrymen, yet he could not forget, as Hancock did, his large property investments. To do him justice, we must put ourselves back, in imagination, into the circumstances amid which his opinions were formed. He could not forsee the subsequent events; and although we may heartily disapprove of his lack of action, yet to paint a true picture we must depict John Rowe as a man of high character and real patriotism.
The British evacuated Boston March 17, 1776. Two days later Rowe records: "Genl Washington and his Retinue were in Town yesterday, I did not hear of it otherwise should have paid my Respects and waited on him." A few days later he sent an invitation to Washington to dine and re- ceived "a very Polite Answer." Through this trying period Rowe attended town meetings faithfully and in 1780 he was again chosen a Representative, which office he retained until 1784. In Fleet's Almanack and Register for 1787 we find the following: "John Rowe Esq obt 17th Feb 1787 Etat anae-72-Gratitude demands a Tear." Here we find the key,-the General Court after his last term was ended, out of gratitude named the new township in the northwestern part of the State for one of Boston's true benefactors.
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MASSACHUSETTS
CHAPTER IX ROWE'S MILITARY HISTORY
"Every particle of historical truth is precious."
Benjamin Church.
During the Revolutionary War, Rowe was known as Myri- field Plantation; and the soldiers who enlisted usually spelled it Merryfield. In response to the alarm of April 19, 1775, two companies of minute-men set out for Boston on April 21st., one composed entirely of Myrifield citizens under Capt. Gideon Chapin, and one recruited from Charlemont, Shel- burne and Myrifield under Capt. Oliver Avery of Charlemont. August 14, 1777 a detachment from the Myrifield company under Sergeant Nathaniel Corbet marched to Bennington, probably by way of Readsboro. Outside of these two brief "campaigns," the records of Myrifieldians are scattered. Several were at Valley Forge and tradition has it that one was a member of Washington's Life Guards .* Aaron Barr is stated to have been the first man wounded at Bunker Hill. Rev. Cornelius Jones is said to have borne arms until the surrender of Burgoyne. Some were in the northern cam- paign around Ticonderoga.
The seventeen volumes compiled by the State give their records in some detail and below we list the names only .
Aaron Barr Alexander Teakels Dependence Thayer
Darius Barr
Moses Barr
Craft Davice
Thomas Bartlett
Ezekiel Davice
George Bennet
Theodorus Doty
Bartholomew Bartlett George Gaby
Benjamin Brown
Josiah Gilbert
*The name of Jonathan Cressy is mentioned in the Connecticut State Archives as a Private in the 2nd Continental Dragoons, but Mrs. Peck states that he was for three years in Washington's Life Guards and served in the army, a total of six years and nine months. The records in the Bureau of Pensions at Washington show his enlist- ment from the summer of 1779 to April 1783. Membership in the Life Guards is doubtful.
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HISTORY OF ROWE
Consider Brown
John Gill (?) John Gilley
Matthew Brown Robert Brown Charles Cambell Gad Chapen Shadrach Chapen
Aaron Gleason
Asa Gleason
Henry Gleason
Jonas Gleason
Abner Chapen
Jonathan Gleason
Gideon Chapen Jesse Collis (?)
William Hartwell
Eldad Corbet
James Howard Cornelius Jones Patrick King
Andrew McNitt John McNitt
William Lamb
Samuel Moore
Joseph Thomas
Nathaniel Parker
Nathan Wheeler
Leonard Pike
Jonathan Whight
Leonard Pique
Timothy Whight
Caleb Robinson
Jonathan White
Thomas Shearman
David Wier
Jacob Streeter
Henry Willson
William Stel (Steel)
Noah Willson
Charles Stewart
Henry Wilson
John Taylor
Malachi Wilson
Humphrey Taylor
Michael Wilson
William Taylor
David Wire
John Gill's address is "Maryfield."
In a number of cases apparently the same name is spelled differently. Eldad Corbet is listed in four different places; there is a Gad Chapen and a Gad Chapin. David Wier and David Wire probably are one and the same. Henry Willson was a lad of 18; perhaps Henry Wilson was our good deacon who was one of the town fathers ten years later. Timothy Whight may be Timothy White. John McNitt had no ad- dress against his name but he was in the same company with Andrew McNitt and a John McNitt lived on the north road to Readsborough.
E. W. Blakeslee (So. Ashfield) stated in 1916 that his great grandfather, Caleb Blakslee, served seven years in the War and wintered at Valley Forge .*
*Caleb Blakeslee emigrated from Connecticut and built a log cabin on the knoll to the west of the frame house (owned by Mrs. Roland Tuttle), which he later erected in 1807.
Nathaniel Corbet
Jonathan Lamb
Timothy Nolton
Samuel Tower
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MASSACHUSETTS
There are available no good records of the War of 1812, or Madison's War as it was then called and should be so named today. In September 1814, orders were issued for calling out the militia of the state for the defence of the sea- coast. £ October 6, 1814 the town of Rowe voted "to pay the Expense of the Waggoners for Transporting the Soldiers, by the Town" . . and "to raise one Hundred and thirty Dollars to defray the expense of the detached Militia who have been called into service."
The State Archives do not enlighten us as to the names of those who were so called, but in a small trunk in the pos- session of Emory B. Sibley are some interesting papers of Capt. James Brown. In May 1812, the several officers commanding companies in the 5th Regiment were ordered to "detach from their respective Companies their quota of officers, non-commissioned officers and privates." There were nine captains, and a total of 48 in the list. Capt. James Brown had detailed 1 drummer and 4 "rank and file," a total of 5 out of the 48. They were instructed to "hold themselves in readiness to march at any time when called," but there is no evidence that they ever were called. How- ever, in September 1814, (over two years later), Capt. Brown moved his company as far as the camp at New Salem, for we find several regimental orders at that place. In October 1814 he filed a "provision return," for 225 rations for 3 days, for 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 2 musicians, and 65 pri- vates. There is a "Roll of Captain Brown's detached Com- pany of Foot," without date, but apparently between 1807 and 1815. From the fact that it was a detached company, it may well be the roll of the company that marched to New Salem. Practically every man except the three officers were equipped with 1 musket with iron rod, 1 bayonet, 1 scabbard and belt, 2 flints, 1 cartridge box, 24 cartridges with balls, 1 knapsack. Those from Rowe were as follows,-
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS James Brown (Captain) Solomon Reed (Lieutenant)
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HISTORY OF ROWE
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS Ebenezer Meril (Sergeant) Ira Gleason (Drummer)
RANK AND FILE
James Taylor
Sebra Thomas
Phineas Barr
Eliphaz Marsh
Ephraim Knolton
Moses Gleason
Joseph Chapin
Pliny Wells
Ambrose Potter
Daniel Farwell
Alfred Brown
John Huntington
Samuel P. Nims
Amos Richardson Simeon Barr, Jr.
Henry Brown
Newton Warner
The others were from Heath, Colrain, Ashfield and Con- way.
Rowe furnished 65 men in the Civil War (1861-1865) or three more than her quota .* The list includes the follow- ing :--
Emory P. Andrews
Jasper C. Miller
James M. Allen
Houghton Paine
William Bemis
James H. Paine
Abel C. Bliss
Nathaniel R. Rice
Carpenter Bliss
Albert Scott
Waitstill Bliss
Charles H. Scott
J. Franklin Brown
Thomas L. Scott
Newton L. Brown
Lyman Scott
Reuel Bullard
Russell Sears
Everett E. Cressey
Russell Stafford
George Cressey
Chauncey Stafford, Jr.
Rodolphus D. Fish
Luther Stafford
John Fitzgerald
Joseph A. Sibley
Adoniram J. Gleason
Philo Sibley, Jr.
J. H. Harrington
Leroy S. Stanford
Charles H. Hathaway
E. M. Stephens
John W. Haynes
Royal W. Stone
David Henry
Amos Temple Andrew Thorrington
George R. Jeffords
George A. Wilcox
William Kelley
Luman Wilcox
George R. King
Alonzo M. Wilson
John Leonard
Richard Woffenden
Judson Lovely
Henry C. Wright
William Lynet
R. M. Wilson
Thomas Love
*Samuel Woffenden enlisted as a resident of Hawley.
Hiland H. Hicks
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MASSACHUSETTS
In the Spanish War (1898) Rowe was not directly repre- sented. The town's sole claim rests in Timothy Kiley of Montague who enlisted as a volunteer at Miller's Falls, May 3, 1898, in Company E, 2nd Regiment. He was not discharged until the following November, but was absent on sick leave; and the writer remembers riding past his father's house (now owned by Adelbert Truesdell) in August of that year, and young Kiley on hearing the strains of "Johnny Comes Marching Home," hobbled to the door to wave his acknowledgment of the serenade.
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