History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 114

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 114

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).

A committee was chosen, March 9, 1761, " to represent and to defend the district respecting a gramar school which the district is sumoned to answer at the next Sessions of the Peas."

A school-house was ordered to be built at Falls Woods in 1769, and was undoubtedly finished before Nov. 28, 1775, when two committees were chosen, "one for the old school- house, so called, and one for the Falls Woods school." In 1794, 8150 were appropriated for erecting "a school-house or houses," but the record does not disclose where they were to be located.

The following sums were appropriated for schooling in the

# A pound lawful was equal to $3.331/3.

Me What Inot Sprayted Hes

MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY. SOUTH HADLEY, MASS.

LYMAN WILLISTON HALL, MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY _ SOUTH HADLEY, MASS. ( FOR ACIENCE AND ART )

351

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

years named : 1754, in lawful money, £8; 1758, £20, exclu- sive of teachers' board ; 1764, £30, " including the boarding the school-masters ; " 1775, £20; 1787, £30; 1795, 850; 1805, $300; 1815, $700; 1824, 8500.

The town gave to promote singing, in 1792, $13.38; 1796, $20; 1799, 850; 1805, $50; 1807, 880.

The system of graded schools was introduced in 1868, and first applied to the schools at the Falls village, by Rufus C. Hitchcock, now of Thompsonville, Conn. It was chiefly, if not wholly, through his intelligent and persevering efforts that this salutary change was effected.

There are now-1879-two principal school buildings, of brick, in which nearly all the scholars are concentrated, and in each of which the several grades are taught. The oldest of these buildings is at the Falls village, and was erected about 1845, and enlarged in later years ; the other is at the centre village, and was built in 1868 or 1869. A small brick school- house stands at Falls Woods, another at " Pearl City," in the northern part of the town, and one of wood at the Falls village.

There are practically seventeen different schools, conducted by as many teachers, four of whom are males. A teacher of music is also employed.

In . 1868 the population was 2098; valuation, $1,103,491 ; greatest number of scholars enrolled, in summer, 488; great- cst average attendance, summer, 393. In 1877 the population was 3370; valuation, $1,630,899 ; scholars between five and fifteen years, 579; greatest average attendance, 522; number of different scholars enrolled, 732. Amount applied to schools in 1877, $8500. The estimated population in report for year ending March 1, 1879, is 3500; greatest enrollment of pupils, summer term, 622 ; greatest average attendance, summer, 510; expenditure, $8512.53.

A private school for young ladies was taught a number of years, commencing in or near the year 1802, by Miss Abby Wright, and was "in good repute." Other private schools were doubtless conducted from time to time until the adoption of the district system, soon after 1812.

John Judd was the first teacher in District No. 4, at what is now " Pearl City."

MOUNT HOLYOKE SEMINARY.

Mount Holyoke Seminary, chief among the institutions of the old Bay State devoted to the education of young women, occupies a charming situation on the east side of the main street in the village of South Hadley. Two miles westward the Connecticut trails its winding thread of silver through the meadows, while nearer, on every side, appear in great variety the pastures green and undulating fields of a broken upland. As a majestic border to the picture, upon the west and north rise the stern and rugged ranges of Mounts Tom and Holyoke. IIere, as everywhere in this lovely valley, the graceful eltn abounds.

Mary Lyon, the founder of the seminary, was born in Buekland, Franklin Co., Mass., Feb. 28, 1797. She was generously endowed, physically and intellectually; but to her narrow circumstances, and consequent struggles to obtain an education, more than to any other cause, it is probable the seminary owes its existence. Self-sacrificing and zealous, she undertook the arduous task of providing an institution of learning which should be self-sustaining, and yet " where ex- penses should be so moderate as not to debar those of limited means and advantages so great that the wealthy could find none superior elsewhere." Such was her devotion to this noble purpose that she could write, " Had I a thousand lives, I could sacrifice them all in suffering and hardship for its sake. Did I possess the greatest fortune, I could readily relinquish it all and become poor, and more than poor, if its prosperity should demand it."

Some years of her life, before setting about her great work,

were spent in teaching, her first essay being in a school near Shelburne Falls, at a salary of 75 cents per week and board. After other experiences in a small way, in sundry schools of her native county, she united with Miss Z. Grant in the management successively of the Adams Female Acad- emy, at Derry, N. H., and the female seminary at Ipswich, Mass. She remained with Miss Grant ten years, and it was during this period that the plans for the new institution were gradually and patiently matured. Upon leaving Ipswich, in 1834, she called to her aid a number of able, earnest, and will- ing friends, whom she had inspired with much of her own zeal and self-denial.

The seminary was incorporated Feb. 11, 1836, and the corner- stone of the first building-which was of brick and 94 feet by 50 in size-laid October 3d, following. This building, of four stories and basement, had a capacity to accommodate 80 pupils, and was opened Nov. 8, 1837. Its length has been ex- tended to 166 feet, and a wing 122 feet by 40 projected east- ward from cach end, at right angles to the main structure. A gymnasium connecting the extremities of the wings completes the quadrangle.

The library, erected in 1870, at a cost of $18,000, is con- nected with the main building, 45 feet southward, by a corri- dor 11 feet in width. It is handsomely fitted for its uses, and finished in native woods. The furniture and cases are of black-walnut. The library contains about 10,000 volumes.

Williston Hall, the handsomest structure of the group, finely situated in the rear and somewhat north of the main edifice, is of brick, has four stories and a gabled roof, and an inner finish of ash, attractive and durable. Its cost, complete, was $50,017.74, of which sum Mr. A. Lyman Williston, of North- ampton, whose name it bears, gave $10,000. The building is dedicated to science and art, and contains already many fine collections in the various departments. Rooms for the cabi- nets of ichnology, geology, mineralogy, zoology, and botany are provided ; also a laboratory, and physiological and other recitation-rooms. The upper floor is devoted to the art-gallery. Upon one wall of the geological leeture-room appears in fresco a geological map, 15 by 22 feet in size, projected by Prof. C. IF. Hitchcock, the original of which was awarded the prize at Philadelphia, in 1876.

The cabinets include an entire set of the Ward casts, a bond- fide skeleton of the extinct New Zealand bird Palapteryx ele- phantopus, a rare collection of corals, and a fine collection of fossil bird-tracks, while the art-gallery contains, among other works of art, a large painting by Albert Bierstadt of a scene in the Hetch Hetchie Canon, California. For this picture the gallery is indebted to Mrs. E. 11. Sawyer, Mrs. A. L. Williston, and to the artist himself, who contributed a part of the price.

Upon the occasion of laying the corner-stone of Williston Hall, June 1, 1875, appropriate exercises were held, including a statement and narrative by one of the young ladies of the seminary. The hall was dedicated with interesting ceremonies Nov. 15, 1876, Prof. W. S. Tyler, of Amherst College, presi- dent of the board of trustees, delivering an address.

In the affairs of the seminary no domestics are employed. The members constitute one family, and by a proper division of labor, requiring a service from each of but one hour a day, perform all the needed household duties. While regarded as no part of the instruction proper, this daily service proves salu- tary as a means of promoting health and stimulating to sys- tem, order, and mutual helpfulness.

" The grand features of this institution," wrote Miss Lyon before its opening, " arc to be an elevated standard of science, literature, and refinement, and a moderate standard of ex- pense ; all to be guided and modified by the spirit of the gus- pel." The actual work of the seminary has been in perfect accord with this intelligent forecast from the day of its open- ing until the present time. In the later years changes have been made by which the standard for admission has been

352

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

raised and the curriculum proportionately broadened. The present regular course covers four years, of three terms cach, and includes the higher English branches, mathematics, end- ing with astronomy in the third year ; the physical sciences, French, or German, in the second year, and natural theology. Separate courses in Greek, French, and German are made op- tional, but may not be substituted for the regular curriculum. Instruction is given in vocal music, reading, penmanship, gymnasties, crayon and pencil drawing, and painting in water- colors.

This institution has received considerable aid from private sources, but never was endowed. With the exception of $40,000 received from the State, in 1867, the principal gifts have been,-from Mrs. Henry F. Durant, of Boston, $10,000 for the purchase of books; a legacy from the late Miss Phebe Hazeltine, of Boscawen, N. JI. ($15,000), as a fund whose in- come should be used to assist deserving pupils, making the total fund for that purpose $20,000; from Mr. Kendall, of Leominster, Mass., by will, $5000; from the late Mrs. Julia M. Tolman, of West Roxbury, Mass.,-onee associate princi- pal,-a bequest of $3600, as the nucleus for a fund whose in- come might be used for the benefit of teachers.

Besides the single gift of $10,000, by Mr. Williston, for the hall of Science and Art, numerous other donations were made for the same purpose, amounting to $20,914.22.

Principal among Miss Lyon's coadjutors were Rev. Roswell Hawks, of Cummington, Mass. ; Hon. Daniel Safford, of Boston ; and Andrew W. Porter, Esq., of Munson, Mass. Each was afterward numbered among the first trustees of the seminary, Mr. Hawks holding for many years the presidency of the board. Mr. Hawks was distinguished for his successful labors in raising the needed funds, which in sums large and sums diminutive-equally the outpouring of large hearts- within two years became sufficient to warrant the erection of a building. Mr. Safford and his honored wife gave of their wealth-treasures of sympathy and treasures of goldl-with unflagging and unsparing generosity. Mr. Safford said, in after-life, " No money, time, or effort which I have bestowed on any object affords me more satisfaction in the review than what 1 have given to Mount Holyoke Seminary."

In March, 1836, Deacon Andrew W. Porter was made a trustee. Next to its founder, he became more closely identi- tied with the institution, its material and educational advance- ment, in all phases of its early struggling life and later pros- perous existence, than any other person. The first building was put up, and nearly all succeeding improvements made, under his intelligent supervision, freely given. This was but the beginning of his life of devotion to the seminary,- the child of his adoption. "For forty years, without any pecuniary reward or emolument, he gave tinte, thought, money, and personal services unsparingly to the institution which he adopted, loved, and cared for as a child." In all he did for the institution, he had the hearty co-operation and sympathy of his loving wife. When in his last hours he could not speak he wrote, with hand that faltered, "Give my love to the teachers, the daughters, and all the pupils of the semi- nary." When the end came, and before the funeral, the principal of the seminary wrote, "The seminary is rich in friends, but we have no other Deacon Porter. Ile was more than a friend,-he was a father ; and the 'seminary daughters,' whom he remembered to the last, must mourn for him. No human being, except Mary Lyon, has done as much for the institution as he. Next to Mrs. Porter, Mount Holyoke Semi- nary is chief mourner." Deacon Porter died March 4, 1877.

Miss Lyon performed the duties of principal of the seminary from the day of its opening until the period of her death, in March, 1849 .* The successors of Miss Lyon have been Misses

Mary W. Chapin, 1851 to 1867; Helen M. Trench, 1867 to 1872; and Julia E. Ward, the present preceptress.

The whole number of graduates, including the class of 1878, is 1640. Four-fifths-as shown by the attendance from 1838 to 1876, inclusive-were from the five States, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the percentage of the whole number being for each, respectively, 35, 153, 15, 73, and 7. The attendance for the years 1878-79 is 273, distributed in the four classes as follows : Senior, 3] ; senior middle, 38; junior middle, 86; junior, 118.

Lectures for the current year (1878-79) : Rev. Edward D. Lawrence, of Marblehead, subject, " Philosophy of Travel;" Prof. Charles A. Young, of Princeton College, "Astronomy and Physies ;" Prof. Charles Il. Hitchcock, of Dartmouth College, " Geology ;" Prof. Charles O. Thompson, of Worces- ter Free Institute, "Chemistry ;" Rev. Selah Merrill, D.D., of Andover, " Recent Explorations in Bible Lands."

Teachers .- Miss Julia E. Ward, Principal ; Miss Elizabeth Blanchard, Miss Anna C. Edwards, Associate Principals ; Miss Lydia W. Shattuck,t Miss Harriet E. Sessions, Miss Hannah Noble, Miss Lucy J. Holmes, Miss Ellen P. Bowers, Mrs. Sarah D. Stow, t Miss Frances M. Hazen, Miss Elizabeth B. Prentiss, Miss Mary C. Townsend, Miss Sarah H. Melvin, Miss Elizabeth M. Bardwell, Miss Louise F. Cowles, Miss Adeline E. Green, Miss Cornelia M. Clapp, Miss Mary E. Blodgett,t Miss Auma A. Parsons, Miss Clara W. Wood, Miss Etta E. Hooker, Miss Abbie L. Sweetser, Miss Isabella G. Mack, Miss Persis D. Hewitt. Adelaide A. Richardson, M.D., Physician and Teacher of Physiology ; Miss Mary O. Nutting, Librarian; Miss Margarethe Vitzthum von Eckstadt, Teacher of French and German; Miss Ada J. Mac Vicar, Teacher of Music ; Miss Lillie L. Sherman, Assistant Pupil- teacher of Drawing; Mrs. Mary A. Foster, Mrs. Harriet G. Duttou, Superintendents of Domestic Department.

Trustees .- Rev. William S. Tyler, D.D., of Amherst, Presi- dent; Abner Kingman, Esq., of Boston ; Austin Rice, Esq., of Conway; Sidney E. Bridgman, Esq., of Northampton ; Henry F. Durant, Esq., of Boston ; A. Lyman Williston, Esq., of Northampton ; Rev. N. G. Clark, D.D., Hon. William Claflin, of Boston ; Edward Hitchcock, M. D., Rev. Julius II. Seelye, D.D., of Amherst ; Hon. E. H. Sawyer, of Easthamp- ton ; Rev. J. R. Herrick, D.D., of West Hartford, Conn. ; Francis A. Walker, Ph.D., of New Haven, Conn. ; Edward Hitchcock, M.D., Secretary ; A. Lyman Williston, Esq., Treasurer.

ECCLESIASTICAL.

The General Court made it a prerequisite to the establish- ment of a separate precinct south of Mount Holyoke that a minister should be settled, and that he should be " learned" and "orthodox." Five or six years elapsed before this condi- tion was fully met, and the result showed that the minister finally secured was sufficiently firm, if not orthodox.

Mr. Grindall Rawson was engaged Aug. 10, 1733, and or- dained the 3d of October following. He was allowed fire-wood, and a house was built for him in the ensuing year .¿ There remains no record of the amount of his salary and settlement, no evidence of a formal church organization.

A meeting-house, 40 feet by 30 in size, was in process of building in March preceding the engagement of Mr. Rawson, and on the 12th of that month it was voted to " build a pulpit,

* Those desiring fuller accounts of Miss Lyon and her colaborers are referred to the following works: Life of Mary Lyon, American Tract Society, New York ;

Daniel Safford, Congregational Publishing Society, Boston. Recollections of Mary Lyon, by Fidelia Fiske, American Tract Society, Boston. Memorial vol- ume of Mount Holyoke Seminary, published in 1862. Life of Edward Norris Kirk, P.D., Lockwood, Brooks & Co., Boston.

+ Absent a part of the year.

# The residence of Mr. Rawson, with the home-lot, was purchased by Moses White, and subsequently by Maj. John Woodbridge, who lived there until his death, in 1782. A large house was erected on the property a few years later, a few rods south of the site of Mr. Rawson's dwelling, by Col. Woodbridge, the year 1788. " After the raising," says Mr. Judd, "there was a great wrestling- match." This house is now owned and ocenpied by Deacon Moses Montague.

353

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

and to ceil and plaster the house up to the plates." The prog- ress of the work was slow, and the subject of numerous votes before the house was finished, in 1737. A gallery with pews was finished seven years later. The seating, which was ac- cording to ratable estate, and the age and ability of individuals, was effected in 1784. The seaters were directed, in January, 1739, to make room for Madam Rawson .* The pews were of various sizes, holding from five to ten persons.

" The parish and Mr. Rawson in a short time came to dis- agreement, of which the first evidence in the church records appears under date of Feb. 25, 1740. It was then " voted, that it is the desire of this precinct that Rev. Mr. Rawson be dismissed from and lay down the work of the ministry among us ;" and subsequently, March 23, 1741, " voted, that whereas ye Rev. Grindall Rawson hath, in a public manner, withdrawn from 33 of the brethren of this church, whereby he hath not . only gone contrary to the minds of a greater part of the church, but hath virtually withdrawn from a major part of the precinct, it is the mind of the precinct that Mr. Rawson is no longer our minister, and that Ephraim Nash, John Nash, and Sarg't John Smith be a committee to acquaint him that we have no further service for him in the office of a gos- pel minister, and that we expect he will refrain from any public acts in that office in future."+

A council, which met in May, 1741, advised a separation, yet, regardless of this, and the reiterated protests of the peo- ple, Mr. Rawson continued to officiate, and thus grievously offend, when he could get possession of the pulpit.

Driven to extreme measures, the parish appointed a com- mittee of 15,¿ Oct. 30, 1741, who were enjoined "to prevent Mr. Rawson from entering the meeting-house on the Sabbath by such means as they shall think best, except he shall promise not to officiate or perform service as a minister ; and if Mr. Raw- son shall offer to perform services as a minister, the committee shall put him forth out of the meeting-house." Within a short time he again offended by entering the pulpit and com- mencing prayer. He was at once seized by a number of the committee, or at their bidding, and ejected from the house. Tradition says his mouth was stopped with a handkerchief, because he continued to pray. The parish was indebted to their minister " for salary and wood," and tradition again comes in to say that Mr. Rawson claimed the right to officiate until the debt was paid. He did not again attempt to serve.

Mr. Rawson married Dorothy, daughter of Rev. Isaac Chauncey, of Hadley, May 19, 1738. One son, Grindall, became a preacher ; another, Charles, a physician.

The successor of Mr. Rawson, Rev. John Woodbridge, of Suffield, a graduate of Yale College, 1732, was installed April 21, 1742, and continued pastor of the church until his death, at the age of eighty years, Sept. 10, 1783. 1Je had a settle- ment of £300, in land and buildings, and a salary of £150, which, after four years, was increased to £160, payable in bills " equal to old tenor." Reduced to silver equivalent, the salary was not more than £40. It was increased from time to time until it reached £66 138. 4d., in 1761. A part of the salary was sometimes paid in grain. Wood was also provided, and rose from 50 loads per year to 70.

Mr. Joel Hayes was settled as the colleague of Mr. Wood- bridge in 1781-82, and ordained October 23d, in the latter year. IIe had £275, hard money, as a settlement; £90 salary

and firewood. After forty years' ministry he was dismissed in 1823, and died July 29, 1827, aged seventy-four.

As the inhabitants increased a larger meeting-house became a necessity. The new building was easily voted, March 2, 1751, but the question of its location became a serious matter of controversy. The original determination was to "set it near the old one," next " in the centre of travel," and after four years' indecision voted to build " if they could agree on a place to set it ;" and three years later, January, 1758, again voted to build a house of worship 60 feet long and 45 feet wide, and to set it where it would best suit the inhabitants. But there were too many minds, and a curious period of vacil- lation and counter-voting followed, in which they voted to abide, and again not to abide, by the decision of a committee of non-residents. Jan. 14, 1760, five different places were designated ; and so the projected sanctuary seems to have been on wheels, journeying through the town. A committee sent by the General Court made a report, determined by lot, which was not satisfactory to dwellers in the eastern portion of the district. They argued, January, 1761, that "owing to the soil the eastern parts of the district are likely to be much sooner filled with inhabitants than the western part ; we think a large portion of the land in the western part is so poor it will never be inhabited," and desired to be separated from that part of the district if the committee's decision were confirmed. A second committee decided that the building should stand "at the head of the lane on Cold Hill."

The western inhabitants opposed the division of the district, but proceeded to build where the first committee had decided, near the old meeting-house. In this they were molested by their opponents, some of whom " drew away three posts and hid them in Pichawaniche Swamp, " and in October, 1761, after the frame was raised, appeared with augmented force and cut off and pushed over the southern portion. The buiklers called a committee of ministers to judge of the validity of the decision " by lot." Four appeared in March following, and decided that the lot was " of a sacred nature, " and that they " did not see how it could be departed from, according to the Old and New Testaments."

The vexed question was settled hy the erection of the second parish, Feb. 18, 1762, and the payment by the first parish of all taxes collected in the second for the building, less the damage to the frame. The amount determined by arbitrators-Win. Pitkin, Jr., of Hartford, Ebenezer Hunt, of Northampton, and William Wolcott, of Windsor-was £70 14s. 7d. The damage was repaired and the new house finished in 1763 and 1764, and " seated" in the latter year. Galleries were added in the ensning seven years .¿ A steeple and belfry were erected in 1791, and a bell furnished by Col. Ruggles Woodbridge.

A third church edifice was erected in or near 1844, and was burned in January, 1875. A fourth, the present church, was completed in 1876, and dedicated February 23d in that year. It cost, with furniture and organ complete, not far from $28,000.

The following have followed Mr. Hayes in the pastorate : Artemus Boies, of Blandford, a graduate of Williams College in 1816, served from Feb. 24, 1824, until Nov. 18, 1834; Jos. D. Condit, of Hanover, N. J., graduate of the College of New Jersey in 1826, served from July 8, 1835, until the time of his death, Sept. 19, 1847 ; Thomas Laurie, settled in June, 1848, remained a short time ; Eliphalet Y. Swift, 1850-57 (?); Hiram Mead, Sept. 29, 1858, to November, 1867; John M. Green, Feb. 26, 1868, to May 25, 1870; James Il. Bliss, Jan- uary, 1871, to May 1, 1873; John R. Herrick, D. D., April 16, 1874, to April 16, 1878. The society is at present without a pastor (April 12, 1879). Number of members, 325.

* March 14, 1743, the parish voted "that William Montagne sit in the high or first Pew with the men, and his wife in the highest Pew with the women. The wife of Deacon John Smith the 2d, aud Luke Montagne with his wife, sit in the l'ew on the north side of ye east door; Madam Woodbridge in the Pew next the Pulpit, and the Widow Kellogg in the fire-seat or 3d Pew, either as she shall chuse."

+ There were fifteen who voted against this measure.

# Hezekiah Smith, Stephen Warner, William Gaylord, Ephraim Naslı, William, Smith, Samuel Preston, Sergt. John Smith, Chileab Smith, John Alvord, Peter Montague, Corp. John Smith, Moses Taylor, Samuel Smith, Jonathan Smith, and John Preston were the committee.

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.

History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 114

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