History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 103

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700

USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 103

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In April, 1664, Lieut. Samuel Smith, for the town of Hadley, purchased the 500 acres from Mr. Bradstreet for £200 and a grant of 1000 acres of land else- where on the Connectient. The court made the grant of 1000 acres for the pur- pose in May, 1664. This land is now in Whately. The north line of the 500 acres so purchased was then considered the north line of Hadley, west of the river.

t Three who voted at this meeting,-Ozias Goodwin, Zechariah Field, and Richard Billing,-with twenty-two others, whose names follow, signified, prior

sell, Jr., Nathaniel Dickinson, Samuel Smith, Thomas Cole- man, John Dickinson, Philip Smith, Thomas Wells, Thomas Diekinson, Richard Montague, Peter Tilton, Richard Bill- ing.t

The first distributions of land in Hadley were made without exclusive regard to the wealth or influence of the recipients. Each of the planters was allowed 8 acres for a home-lot, or enough land elsewhere to make that amount if the home-Jot contained less.

The home-lots which were to constitute the village proper were laid out, at least in part, in 1659 on either side of a wide street, which ran north and south across the neck of the peninsula formed by the " great river " Connecticut. The course of the river permitted a greater length to the east than to the west line of the street, the latter being about one mile. Cross- highways divided the row of lots on each side of the wide street into two unequal sections.

The following, as given by Mr. Judd, is the plan of the village as it appeared in 1663. Several new names, not at-

WWW. Meridian

Soudl Grartner

Www Partrigg-

Chileab Smith.

Thomas Coleman.

Joseph Baldwas

Sanat Smith.

Rode Hollwood.

Philip Smith.

Francus Bornard.

Rick's Montoque.

John Hawks.

John Dickinson.

Headour

Rich'd Church.

Sam'l Porter.

Lai'd Church.

ThomasWells,

Henry Clark,

JohnHullara,

Plain.

Stephen Terry.

Town Lot

Andrew Warner

Vid Như en & The Wheel

John Karsk.

John Barnard.

Timothy Wash

Andrew Docan

John Webster,

NATAL Stanley

Themme Stantey

John Crow.

John While.

San'd Maudy.

Peter Tillen

WatA'l Ward.

William Lemur.

Ww.Markham

Richard Goodman

Wa Westweek.

This Dickinson.

NotA'l Dickinson

way to The Weade

Je Rellega

HADLEY IN 1663.

to March 25, 1661, their desire to settle on the west side of the river, in the pres- ent town of Hatfield: Aaron Cook, Thomas Meckins, William Allis, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr., John Coleman, Isaac Graves (with his father, Thomas Graves), John Graves, Samuel Belding, Stephen Taylor, John White, Jr., Daniel Warner, Richard Fellows, Edward Benton, Mr. Ritchell (with his son), Lieut. Thomas Bull, Gregory Wilterton, Nathaniel Porter, Daniel White, William l'itkin, John Cole, Samuel Church, Samuel Dickinson.

Cook and Church did not remove to the west side; Goodwin, Bull, Wilterton, and Pitkin continned at Hartford; Nathaniel Porter at Windsor; Ritchell and Benton at Wethersfield. Sixteen were permanent residents on the west side .- Vide Jndd's Hist., page 23.

Pine Plain or Woods.

Street - 20 Roas Wido.

320

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

tached to the agreement made at Hartford and Wetherfield, will be noticed. " The figures denote the number of acres in each lot. A full lot of 8 acres was 16 rods wide. There was a broad space between the small lots at the north end and the river, and several years later several small house-lots were granted next to the river, and men built houses on these lots and lived there many years. MI in the street is the place where the first meeting-house stood. It was built after 1663."*

SUBSEQUENT DISTRIBUTIONS OF LAND.

The old township of Iladley, east of the Connecticut, was estimated to contain 57,000 acres, of which about 30,000 acres were north of Mount Holyoke. That part of the township lying west of the great river was set off as a separate town by the name of Hatfield, May 31, 1670. An agreement had been coneluded, on the 22d of December next preceding, by which IIadley retained " forever the free and full disposal of all the land on the east side of the river, for the maintaining of all common charges respecting things ecclesiastical or civil," and a similar jurisdiction over all lands below or southwest from a specified division line, excepting certain lands therein "al- ready either given or sold to inhabitants on the west side."t It was also " covenanted that the society or town of Hadley, on the east side of the river, have liberty to get fencing stuff on the west side of the river, for their land lying on that side of the river, both now and from time to time always, as also to get timber if any see cause to build a barn or shelter for securing his fruits raised there." This agreement further provided that the inhabitants on the west side should pay to those on the east side " £6, as the remainder of what is due for purchase-money." The signers to these articles of separa- tion were, on the part of the old town, Henry Clarke, John Russel, Jr., Samuel Smith, Nathaniel Dickinson, Sr., and Peter Tillton ; on the part of the " west inhabitants," Tho. Meekins, Sr., William Allice, John Conle, Sr., Isaak Graves, and Samuel Belden.

The land reserved to Hadley by the above agreement in the course of years became in large proportion the property of actual residents of IIatfield, though still a part of the former town and taxed for its benefit. In December, 1707, Hatfield took steps toward securing a jurisdiction over this reserved territory, and in May, 1709, petitioned the General Court to declare the Connecticut River to be thereafter the boundary between the towns. Hadley opposed the change, and asserted that the agreement of 1669 "ought to be binding upon the consciences of all good people." The General Court dismissed the first petition of Hatfield, but recommended that " the selectmen and inhabitants of Hadley accommodate their neigh- bors of Hatfield, on consideration of the many advantages Hadley has over and above Hatfield." After many subse-

* Mr. Judd gives the following "Change of Proprietors: In February, 1661, there were 46 east-side proprietors, when the Meadow Plain was divided. Nino of these ceased to be proprietors in 1G6I and 1662, viz. : Jobu Webster, died in 1661; Robert Webster, lived at Hartford; Elizabeth, widow of Luke Hitchcock, married in Springfield; James Northam, died in 1661 ; Capt. Cullick, removed to Boston ; Mr. Samuel Hooker was ordained ut Farmington, 1661; Richard Weller, removed to Northampton; John Arnold, lived at Hartford; John Kellogg was, perhaps, a mistake for Joseph Kellogg; John Hawks died 1662, left a family.

" Eleven new proprietors were added before March, 1603, making 48, viz. : the town, which took Mr. Hooker's lots; Wm. and Thomas Webster, as one; Henry Clarke, from Windsor; Joseph Baldwin, from Milford, who married the widow of James Northam; Timothy Nash, from Ihartford; Chileab Smith; Samuel Church ; Joseph Kellogg, from Farmington, and last from Boston; John In- gram, John Taylor, William Pixley."

" These excepted parcels were " the whole accommodations of Mr. Terry on the west side of the river, and the whole accommodations of Nathaniel Dickin- son, Sr., and half of Mr. Webster's accommodations there, and Jobn Hawks his whole accommodations, and all Joseph Kellogg's, and all Adam Nicholls', his, and that which was Samuel Gardner's in Little Ponsett, and Goodman Crow's in Little Ponsett, and Nathaniel Stanley's in Little Ponsett, and Richard Mon- tague's in Great Ponsett, and Joseph Baldwin's whole accommodations, and John White's in Great Ponsett, and John Dirkinson's in Little Ponsett, and ex- cept 12 acres and a half above and besides all this when it shall be given or sold to an inhabitant or inhabitants on the west side of the river."

quent efforts, all of which Hadley opposed with vigor, Hatfield gained the end sought, and the river was made the boundary by act of Nov. 2, 1733.

The lands south of Mount Holyoke were set apart for dis- tribution in 1720, " according to the list of estates and polls,"? as taken in January of that year. The total valuation of estates and polls was then £6063 8s., and the number of per- sons entitled to share in the division was 117, including 22 residents of Hatfield .¿ The town was allowed a share on the basis of an estate of £150, and Rev. Isaae Chauncey on a basis fixed at £92 16s.

South Hadley was made a "precinct" in 1732-33, and a " district" in April, 1753, with the consent of the mother- town.

About 10,900 acres of land, now in the town of Amherst, were distributed in 1703.2 These were all north of the Bay road. The lands south of that road were apportioned in 1742, of which the larger part was also in territory since named Amherst. That part of Amherst north of the Boston road was made a separate precinet Dee. 31, 1734, and constituted a district Feb. 13, 1759.

Ninety-seven persons participated in the principal divisions of the east precinct (Amherst) lands, of whom 16 resided in Hatfield, but owned land in Hadley meadows, on either the east or west side of the river. |

The remaining lands, or those embraced within the bounds of the present town of HIadley, were most of them distributed prior to 1754. Four of the more valuable pieces of meadow or interval lands were allotted in the years 1661-62 and '63, and were called " Forty-Aere Meadow," " Great Meadow," " Fort Meadow," and " Hoekanum Meadow." These contained about 1200 acres.

Forty-Aere Meadow was north of the village, toward Mill River, and contained, notwithstanding its title, considerably more than 67 acres.f This meadow and a piece called the Forlorn, with other lands in the Great Meadow, were assigned to " those who lived in the north half of the village," as an equivalent for Fort Meadow, which was turned over to the inhabitants of the south half of the village.

The Great Meadow " included all the land upon the penin- sula west and south of the home-lots," and was about two miles in extent east and west. The north western portion bore the name of Forlorn, ** or Honeypot. The Great Meadow contained 710 acres, and was divided into 177 parcels. The whole was arranged in three divisions, of which that nearest the home-lots was called Meadow Plain, and was distributed in February, 1661. A tract in the Great Meadow, south of the south highway, was called Aquavitae, and still bears the name.

Fort Meadow, south of the village and chiefly north and west of Fort River, contained about 147 acres. A portion was south of the river. The tract contained some low, marshy ground. Upon the division of this meadow among the south inhabitants, each person received 5 acres for each £100 of his estimated estate.

Hoekanum Meadow was south of the preceding, and orig- inally contained near 293 acres. It formed a long point or

# Inclusive of the estate of Thomas Dickinson, whose heirs were in Con- necticnt.

¿ " Those who intended to remove to Hadley had put in a sum ' to take up lands by' in April, 1659. When the lands were divided, each proprietor received allot- ments according to a sum annexed to his name, called estate. These sums varied from 50 to 200 pounds, and must have been the result of friendly consultation and agreement. How persons and property were considered cannot be known. Some of the engagers were worth three times the sum set against their names, and some were worth less than the sum so affixed. Hartford had divided lands according to sums set against the names of proprietors."

| Vite " Amherst," in this history.

{ If Mr. Judd states correctly, at page 200 of his history, " Forty Acres" actu- ally contained nearly 130 acres.

** A name given to parcels of land used for making up deficiencies. A tract in Northampton was so named.

321

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

neck of land whose extent east and west was nearly a mile and a half, with a width varying from 80 to 140 rods. The width was in time much reduced by the action of the river, which in February, 1840, cut a new channel through the peninsula .* Since 1663 the width at that point had been reduced from 100 rods to less than 30. The meadow was divided into lots and apportioned to the 48 proprietors of 1663, in March of that year. The total valuation of the estates at the time was £6145.

The lands known as Inner or Inward Commons were di- vided at several periods from 1742 to 1764. On the 4th of March, in the year 1700, the town voted that all the land from Mount Holyoke to Mill River, west of a line three and a «juarter miles eastward from the meeting-house, should " lye as common land forever." It was supposed that this line would run eastward of the " New Swamp."

The proprietors determined in 1733 that the chief value of the Inner Commons was in the "growth of fire-wood and timber," and ordered that walnut- and oak-trees less than twelve inches in diameter should be cut only for timber, and a few years later gave each proprietor permission to take one pine-tree for boards to every £15 of his estate.

The division of the Inner Commons was made according to the real estate of each proprietor, as indicated by the list of 1781, "with the addition of three pounds for each poll and servant."+

Four divisions were laid out and allotted in 1742, and, "ex- cepting the Pine Plain west of Spruce Swamp, comprehended the commons in Hadley, from near the foot of Holyoke to Sunderland line, and included the land north of Mill River, which is now-1858-in Amherst. Mount Warner was in tracts 3 and 4, in the first division."

A fifth division was made in 1743, embracing lands ex- tending from what is now Belchertown westward, a dis- tance of seventeen hundred and fifty rods, including the northern slope of Holyoke, and bounded north by the Bay road. Most of this division was in the east precinct, now Amherst.

In 1754 the land on the north side of Mount Holyoke, which had been voted a sheep pasture in 1725, and which lay immediately west of the fifth division, was distributed as the sixth division, and the same year "lots were drawn in the seventh division, which was on the Pine Plain, east of the home-lots and others granted on that plain, and west of Fort River Swamp and Spruce Swamp. This narrow, irregular . division stretched northward from the highway by Fort Meadow fence, above two miles, to near the Stone Bridge, so called. The portions of poor men were small."

In these later divisions of lands, the old-time liberality of the more wealthy proprietors is not so apparent as when the home-lots were laid out in 1659, and the years succeeding. Mr. Judd says " that the proportion of land received by those in moderate circumstances became less and less in the subse- quent divisions." And further, that "the division of 1731 must have been contrived by the large land-holders, and aided by a considerable portion of the middling class. Their rule was, ' Whosoever hath, to him shall be given.' The wealthy man received as much land on account of his slave as the poor man on his own account."

These seven divisions were surveyed and platted by Na- thaniel Kellogg, and contained 13,303 aeres and 122 rods, as follows: the 1st, 4233 acres, 84 rods; 2d, 2086 acres, 118 rods; 3d, 1677 acres, 84 rods ; 4th, 1835 acres, 44 rods ; 5th, 2660 acres, 4 rods ; 6th and 7th, each 405 aeres, 54 rods.

The following is a summary of the distributions of land in Old Hadley, east of the river and north of Mount Holyoke:

Acres.

Distributions before 1703 3,500

Divisions in Amherst in 1703. 10,000

Flat Hills and lands adjoining 900

Seven divisions, 1742 to 1754 13,300

27,700

Highways, streams, and waste.

2,300

30,000

Some additional lands were allowed the proprietors of Forty Aeres, Hockanum Meadow, and Fort Meadow, under the general designation "skirts," in and after 1675; the first receiving about 225, the second 140, and the last 110 acres, besides a tract called Fort River pastures, which extended " up the river from Fort Meadow fence" toward Spruce Hill. These pastures were " laid out to 22 persons in the year 1699."

FIRST THINGS.

The first school-house was previously the dwelling of Na- thaniel Ward, who gave it with a portion of his home-lot for school purposes, and it was so used for many years. Mr. Ward died in 1664. The house was " ready to fall down" in 1710, and two years later the property was leased to Dr. John Bar- nard for ninety-seven years, at eighteen shillings per year. The first building erected as a school-house was built in 1796, in the broad street "in the middle of the town," and was 25 by 18 feet in size, with 7 feet between joints.

The first meeting-house stood in the wide street, opposite Richard Montague's; was framed in 1665, but not finished until Jan. 12, 1670. A house for meetings was hired in 1663 and 1664.

The first inn or ordinary was kept by Richard Goodman in 1667, in which year it is probable the first general training occurred, Mr. Goodman entertaining the officers.

The first marriage in Hadley was that of Aaron Cooke, Jr., and Sarah Westwood, daughter of William Westwood, magis- trate, May 30, 1661. The ages of bride and groom were re- spectively seventeen and twenty-one years. She died March 24, 1730, aged eighty-six. He died Sept. 16, 1716, aged sev- enty-six. The children of this marriage were Sarah, who married Thomas Hovey ; Aaron, of Hartford ; Joannah, born 1665, married, 1683, Samuel Porter, Jr., and died 1713; West- wood, born 1670 or '71; Samuel, born 1672; Moses, born 1675; Elizabeth, born 1677, married, 1698, Ichabod Smith ; Bridget, born 1683, married first, 1701, John Barnard, second, Dencon Samuel Dickinson.

The first, and, it is believed, the only, couple belonging to Hadley who were ever divorced were negroes. Ralph Way obtained, in January, 1752, a divorce from his wife, Lois, on the ground of adultery with a negro named Boston.

Illegitimacy was equally rare, only a single case occurring before 1700, and that in 1690. The parties involved were married soon after.

The first male child born was Samuel Porter, son of Samuel, one of the first settlers. He died July 29, 1722.

The first death was that of an infant without name, child of Philip Smith, which was buried in Hadley Cemetery, Jan. 22, 1661. John Webster, who died April 5th the same year, an ancestor of Noah Webster, was the second person buried there.

The first minister was Mr. John Russell, Jr., an English- man by birth, who came with the first planters to Hadley and remained until his death, 1692.

Dr. John Westcarrt was the first physician resident in Had-

# In 1660, Dr. Westcarr was examined before Capt. John Py uchon, upon a charge of selling liquor to the Indians. The Indians were the complainants. The doctor confessed that he had two barrels of liquor in the spring, and that he used four or five gallons at a time in preparing medicines. The Indians' tes- timony showerl a different disposition of at least a part of it. "Tackquellawant testified that John Westcarr sells liquors to the Indians; 'and about a month ago I had four quarts of him, and paid him a beaver-skin. This is truth, and

* The peninsula cut off by the river in 1840, and called the "Ox-Bow," was annexed to Northampton in 1850.

+ " The residence of the 147 persons in the list of 1731 was as follows: 90 in the old town, 2 near School Meadow, 39 in the second precinct, south of Holyoke, and Is in what was afterward the third precinct and Amherst."-Judd's Hist., p. 281. The total valuation in 1731 was £3603.

322

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

ley. He came in 1666, and was the first Indian trader. Richard Montague, baker ; Asahel Wright, butcher; Oliver Warner, hatter ; Timothy Nash, blacksmith ; John Russell, Sr., glazier ; William Partrigg, cooper ; Samuel Gaylord, Jr., and Jonathan Smith, weavers ; Ilezekiah Porter, and possibly his father, Samuel, carpenters. John Barnard had a malt- house in Hadley prior to 1664. Elijah Yeomans, goldsmith, was in Iladley from 1771 for twelve years, and made clocks and articles of jewelry. Samuel Porter, who died in 1722, was probably the first merchant.

GROWTH OF THE TOWN.

The unsettled condition of the colonies from 1675 to 1713, during which period the wars of " Philip," " King William," and " Queen Anne" brought desolation to some of the plan- tations in the Connecticut Valley, and suffering and disturb- ance to all, prevented in Hadley any considerable growth beyond the limits of the original home-lots. A few persons were granted portions of land, as hereafter noted, but most of them were in or near the wide street.

Joseph Warriner, in 1669, was permitted to build "in the middle of the street," near the north end. He there built a house and barn, which he sold to Eleazar Warner, after about twenty-one years' occupancy, and removed to Enfield. Be- tween the north " highway to the woods" and the river, the following house-lots were granted, beginning with the one farthest west: John Preston, 1 acre, 1679; Joseph Barnard and Dr. John Westcarr, each 2 acres, 1673; Isaac Harrison and William Gaylord, each 2 acres, 1672; Peter Montague, 2 acres, 1673; Henry White, 3 acres, 1680; Isaac Warner, a quantity in 1681, "extending up the river to Coleman's Brook, west of the highway to Forty Acres." Only one or two houses were erected on these lots before the first Indian war. The palisade, built about the settlement in 1675-76, did not include the houses-five in number-on the north high- way. The lots on both sides of this highway have been washed away by the river.

In 1679, Thomas Webster, who had been obliged to abandon his property at Northfield four years previous, was supplied with a house at the expense of the town, in the middle high- way "into the meadow," not far from William Webster's .* Small parcels were also granted to John Preston, John In- gram, and Edward Scott, in 1677, '78, '79.

A lot 3 rods by 40 in size was set off to Mark Warner " from the middle highway, next to Mr. Russell's house-lot," in 1680. Although he did not build as contemplated, he did not fail to claim the land. This resulted in a controversy lasting many years.

Additional House-Lots .- The land east of the old home-lots, being farther from the river, was lower than those which were first occupied. This land in what was called the Pine Plain was finally taken in, after 1675, by the extension of all the home-lots on the east side of the wide street, except 5. Land in the rear of the 5 lots-those of lohn Barnard, Andrew Bacon, Nathaniel Stanley, Thomas Stanley, and John White -was sold, in February, 1675, by the town to Dr. John West- carr, for the sum of £10. This land had a frontage on the middle highway of 16 rods, and was about 66 rods in depth.

In 1684, February 12th, the town voted that other lots

should be laid out upon the Pine Plain, and appropriated "twenty rods in breadth for a highway at the rear of the old home-lots, to run from the north end of the town to Fort Meadow, and eastward of said way, the lots aforesaid to be laid out to begin at Joseph Smith's lot at the north end, and run as far as there is common land to the Fort Meadow, leaving highways into the woods." The lots were each to contain 8 acres and have a frontage of 16 rods.

Although attempts were made toward a settlement in the new street at several earlier periods, it was not until 1699, at the end of the King William war, that many lots were taken in that quarter. Twenty-six lots were then taken, and a few frames for houses put up ; but another war caused further de- lay, and nothing of permanence was accomplished until the final peace in 1713. Fifteen families resided on the new street in 1720.

The following constituted the twenty-six lot-owners on the new middle street in 1699, arranged in order from the most northerly : Luke Smith, Samuel Smith, Samuel Porter, George Stillman, Joseph Smith, William Rooker, Samuel Partrigg, Peter Montague, Ebenezer Smith, Nathaniel War- ner; then a highway 8 rods wide, south of which was a vacant lot, subsequently (1713) given to John Montague, Jr., Samuel Ingram, Samuel Boltwood, Widow Hannah Porter, Timothy Nash (two lots) ; and then a highway ten rods wide, a continuation of the " middle highway to woods." South of this highway were Daniel Marsh, Experience Porter, Thomas Sel- den, John Taylor, a highway three and a half rods, John Smith, Nathaniel White, Thomas Hovey, Capt. Aaron Cook, John Kellogg, Nehemiah Dickinson, who was next north of the old Bay Road.

Mr. Judd says of Hadley, as it was in 1770: " The prog- ress of the town was slow. There may have been in 1770 about 108 or 110 families, and 600 inhabitants. Only a small portion of the 13,000 acres of Inner Commons, distributed long before, had been cleared, and not more than six or eight houses had been built on the Commons. Some of these were at North Iladley. A few men began to build on the Boston Road about this time. There were no inhabitants at Plainville, nor farther south in the eastern part of Hadley, nor on the Sunderland road north of Caleb Bartlett, nor between Charles Phelps and the back street. Samuel Wright had settled in the northeast- ern part of Hadley, where his son Silas and his grandson Silas, the late Senator and Governor of New York, were born." He also says, in a note, "Lieut. Enos Smith erected the house in which his son Deacon Sylvester Smith now lives, and finished one room in 1770. . .. Gideon Smith had a house northeast of him, Stephen Goodman had built a house beyond the mill, and Nathaniel White farther east, where he lung kept a tavern. There was a house near the mill for the miller."

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History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 103

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 700

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700