History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 152

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 152

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Dec. 4, 1772 .- Committee reported five districts.

March 5, 1784 .- Voted twenty pounds for schooling.

March 27, 1785 .- Voted thirty pounds for schooling.

March 16, 1795 .- Voted forty pounds for schooling .-

Before the close of the last century the appropriations amounted to £60 annually. In 1833 a general rearrangement of the school districts took place.

THE MOUNTAIN SEMINARY,

an incorporated institution, was established in 1837, on the common near the present store of Samuel Cole, at Worthing- . ton Corners. The school was continued for several years, supported by tuition fees alone. But other seminaries, heavily endowed, were soon after founded, and the competition was too strong for this village academy. The enterprise lasted only a few years, but it aided many young people to obtain the elements of a higher education; it secured improved methods in the common schools, and gave to the town an edu- cational impulse that has ever since been felt.

The first teachers were Alender O. Clapp and Mary Strong. Afterward T. A. Hall, E. A. Hubbard, and J. H. Temple were employed.

The building was a convenient one, comprising two school- rooms on the lower floor, and a recitation-room connected with each. On the second floor was a large public hall, and con- siderably for other than school business. The institution was built by a company of shareholders, including among others Capt. Kelly, Azariah Parsons, Mr. Randall, Col. Ward, Col. Rice, C. B. Rising, and others. The building was sold finally for a turning-shop at West Chesterfield.

To this notice of the schools it is proper to add a list of the natives of Worthington who received a collegiate education :

Azariah Clark, graduated at Williams College in 1805; en- tered the ministry. Benjamin Mills, graduated at Williams College in 1814; settled in Illinois as a lawyer; returned to Massachusetts ; died in Pittsfield. Henry Wilbur, privately educated ; not a graduate ; was a minister of Wendell from 1817 to 1822 ; also an author and lecturer on astronomy. Joseph M. Brewster, Yale College, 1822; entered the ministry ; died in Peru, 1833. Daniel Parish, Williams College, 1822; studied law ; practiced in Worthington and elsewhere. Jonathan E. Woodbridge, Williams College, 1822; appointed a tutor ; en- tered the ministry ; was a teacher many years at Auburndale. George Woodbridge, graduated at West Point; afterward

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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

entered the ministry, and preached at Richmond, Va. John Starkweather, Yale College, 1825; entered the ministry. Or- samus Tinker, Williams College, 1827; entered the ministry ; died at Ashby, Mass., in 1838. Consider Parish, Williams College, 1828 ; both taught and preached at the South. Alonzo Clark, Williams College, 1828; studied medicine; appointed professor of pathology in the Medical College of New York City. J. H. Bisbee, Union College, 1831; entered the min- istry. Daniel Branch, Union College, 1832; a teacher in Ohio; school commissioner in Illinois. A. Huntington Clapp, Yale College ; appointed secretary of Home Missionary So- ciety, New York. Franklin D. Austin, Union College, 1845; entered the ministry. Ilenry A. Austin and Samuel J. Aus- tin, Union College, 1847 ; both entered the ministry. Corydon Higgins, Williams College, 1849; entered the ministry. Chas. 11. Gardner, Williams College; entered the ministry, preach- ing and teaching in New York. James K. Mills, Williams College ; entered the profession of law. W. Harmon Niles, educated under Prof. Agassiz, Cambridge. James C. Rice, Yale College, 1854; studied law; settled in New York City ; entered the Union army, as elsewhere stated. Henry E. Dan- iels, Williams College; studied law; died young. Other professional men educated at various institutions, Ira Daniels, Ebenezer Daniels, Dr. Tinker, Franklin Everett, Ilon. Saml. A. Kingman, judge in the Supreme Court of Kansas, A. D. Kingman, the brothers Marble, who went to Kentucky.

There have also gone out from Worthington many distin- guished business-men who have risen to positions of publie trust or been signally successful in their respective callings. Among these may be named Aaron Clark, Gideon Lee, A. P. Stone, F. Kellogg.

The life of Gideon Lee has the elements almost of a romance. Originally a shoemaker in the shop at Clark & Bardwell's tannery, he is said to have one day thrown off his apron and declared he would do such small business no longer. His after-career in New York as a leather-dealer is simply marvel- ous. Ile rose to wealth and municipal honors, being chosen mayor of the city. When he retired from business he met John Jacob Astor in the street. Mr. Astor said, " I hear you have retired, Mr. Lee; how much do you save?" " About $300,000," replied Mr. Lee. " Well, well !" said Mr. Astor. " That is just as well as if you were rich."

SCHOOL STATISTICS.

January, 1837 .- Eleven schools; attending in the summer, 247; average, 213; winter, 326; average, 298; in town, between 4 and 16, 340; summer schools, 48 months, 15 days; winter, 33 months, 15 days; summer teachers, 11 females; win- ter, 11 males ; average wages of male teachers per month, $13.45; female teach- ers, $4.65; does not seem possible this last could include board, but so stated in Report, Legislative Documents, 1838, page 148.

January, 1847 .- Eleven schools; attending in summer, 278; average, 191; winter, 304; average, 221; in town, between 4 and 16, 356; attending under 4, 19; over 16, 32; summer schools, 55 months, 14 days; winter, 37 months, 14 days; total, 93 months; summer teachers, 11 females; winter, 9 males, 2 fe- males; average wages, male teachers per month, $21.17 ; female, $12.61.

January, 1857 .- Twelve schools; attending in summer, 270; average, 211; winter, 297; average, 243; attending under 5, 27; over 15, 44; in town, between 5 and 15, 267 ; summer teachers, 13 females; winter, 10 males, 2 females; snm- mer schools, 44 months; winter, 35 months, G days; total, 79 months, 6 days; average wages of male teachers per month, $26; female, $15.50.

January, 1867 .- Twelve schools; attending in the summer, 200; average, 160; winter, 225; average, 186; attending under 5, 9; over 15, 52; in town, between 5 and 15, 198 ; summer teachers, 12 females; winter, 6 males, 6 females; sum- mer schools, 37 months; winter, 41 months, 15 days; average wages of male teachers, $33.33 per month; female teachers, $23.14.

Jannary, 1878 .- Eleven schools ; 169 attending; average, 124; under 5, 6; over 5, 31; in town, between 5 and 16, 146; teachers, 2 males, 13 females,-1 from normal; school, 71 months; average wages of male teachers per month, $35; female, $27.65; taxation, $800; voluntarily given, board and fuel, $860; expense of superintendence, $64.55; printing, $6; vested funds, $1961.67; income, $143.20; local funds and dog tax, #228.42; town share of State fund, $223.18.

CHURCHES.

Some preparation for publie worship was made the same year the settlement began. Lots for ministerial support were set apart, and the proprietors erected the first meeting-house

in 1764. Some of the traditions aseribe this work wholly to Col. Worthington, but others include Maj. Barnard as one of the donors. It is not very clear that the above date is correct, though given by previous writers. When the town was organized, in 1768, they met at the tavern of Alexander Miller, and no town-meetings were called "at the meeting- house" until Nov. 12, 1770. This is a clear indication that a house was built the summer before, and that there was no other in existence sufficient to meet in, for these New England towns generally met " at the meeting-house" when they could. This conclusion is further sustained by the fact that March 5, 1770, a road was accepted extending " from the Murrayfield line to the meeting-house spor." This house stood a few rods west of the present residence of Lyman Granger.

The house remained in a half-finished state for several years. It was in the midst of the forest, and at one time it was agreed " that every male inhabitant in the plantation of sixteen years and upward should spend one day in eutting and clearing away the forest about the meeting-house." There was no pulpit at first, only a temporary stage, and rude benches for seats. The older people sometimes brought chairs. March 29, 1780, the town voted certain improvements, -"a pulpit, two deacons' seats, four seats on each side of the broad aisle, and also to lay the gallery floor and stairs." Locations for other news were drawn by lot, to be built by individuals on condition "that each should finish the back up to the gallery girt." Still a large part of the house was unfinished. In 1791 the people aroused themselves, and voted "that the meeting-house be taken down, moved, erected, and every way finished by the 1st day of December, in the year 1792, and that the whole expense accruing therefrom shall be paid by the inhabitants of the town by the 1st day of December, aforesaid, in the fol- lowing articles, viz. : one-fourth part to be paid in cash, and the remainder to be paid in good neat cattle, or Indian corn, or rye, or fax, or beef, or pork." This vote was carried out. The town subsequently voted " to have all the pews sold at auction to the highest bidder." The amount thus obtained was £601 8s. This meeting-house was at " the centre," and ocenpied part of the ground now lying between the store of C. K. Brewster and the dwelling-house of Mr. George W. Noble. It was voted that " Nahum Eager, John Watts, and others have liberty to set up a steeple on the meeting-house," but they do not appear to have availed themselves of this permission.

This continued for some thirty years to be the only place of worship in town. In 1825, after a long and unpleasant contest, it was abandoned, and the present edifice erected. During the year 1870 the interior of this house was thoroughly recon- strueted, at an expense of several thousand dollars. A re- dedication took place August 3d of that year, and was an occasion of great interest. As something unusual, we add that the business of the Congregational Society was transacted under the town warrant until the year 1865, as in the days of the fathers. In most other towns the connection between "church and state" gradually dissolved from 1825 to 1835. In Worthington the parish as distinct from the town was organized in 1865, under the Revised Statutes.

FORMATION OF THE CHURCH.

The early action of the town with reference to preaching was somewhat negative, as it first appears on the records, May 10, 1769, that they " voted to have preaching," which was affirmative enough, but that they " voted not to grant any money for preaching," " voted not to choose a committee to see about preaching," and. " voted not to clear any on the meeting-house lot." But this soon changed to more positive action, as shown with reference to the building of a meeting- house.

April 3, 1771 .- Voted to have Mr. Jonathan Huntington, of Windham, for their minister. Voted to maintain Mr. Huntington by a rate. Voted.to give

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

him 40 pounds salary for the first year, and to raise four pounds a year until it amounts to 60 pounds, and then to remain at that yearly.

March 11, 1773, a salary of £44 was voted to Mr. Hunting- ton, which was probably carrying ont the original agreement for the second year.

The church was organized April 1, 1771, with the following members : Thomas Kinne, Ebenezer Leonard, Nathaniel Daniels, Thomas Clemons, Ephraim Wheeler, Grace Buck, Sarah Pettengill, Sybil Holton, Meribah Converse, Sarah Huntington, Jonathan Huntington, Ilannah Kinne, Lydia Marsh, Nathan Leonard, Benjamin Bigelow, Moses Soule, Samuel Converse, Edmund Pettengill, Priscilla Benjamin, Anna Williams, Mr. Bigelow, Eunice Morse, Joseph Marsh, Israel Holton, David Jewett, James Bemis, Elizabeth Bemis, Eleanor Soule, Dorothy Daniels, Abigail Maheurin.

Like most other churches, this ancient society has had its times of abundant prosperity, to be followed by seasons of de- pression. There have been some noted years when large num- bers were added to the church. In 1780, the last year of Mr. Huntington's life, 53 united. In 1798, 54 were added. In 1808 there was a large accession. Mr. Pomeroy that year made the following entry :

" Be it forever remembered, to the glory of all-conquering grace, that after a long, dark, and stupid time, thirty-six persons, having before made a public relation of their religious experience in the meeting-lumse, united with this church on the first day of May, 1808."

This was only the beginning of the work, however, as 113 were received that year. In 1819, 100 persons were added. In 1827, 32 united. In 1842, 48 were received. In 1850, 49. During many other portions of its history there has also been a steady, healthy growth.

Ministerial Record .- 1st. Rev. Jonathan Huntington, or- dained June 26, 1771. He died while yet pastor, March 11, 1781, aged 48, and the pulpit was then supplied for some years by various preachers temporarily employed. 2d. Rev. Josiah Spalding, installed Aug. 21, 1788. His services ended in 1794. 3d. Rev. Jonathan S. Pomeroy, settled Nov. 26, 1794. His pastorate continued for nearly forty years, closing in 1832. Ile died at Feeding Hills, June 4, 1836. 4th. Rev. Henry Adams, settled Dec. 25, 1833; dismissed by reason of ill health in 1838. He was a native of Worthington. 5th. Rev. John HI. Bisbee, settled December, 1838. He was a native of Ches- terfield, but his parents belonged to the church of Worthing- ton. Dismissed March 13, 1867, to accept a call to the church of Huntington. 6th. Rev. David S. Morgan, installed June 26, 1867. His services closed May 26, 1869. 7th. Rev. Joseph F. Gaylord; labors here commenced in the summer of 1869. Installed Aug. 3, 1870. His labors here closed April 1, 1873. 8th. Rev. Daniel Powers, commenced his labors in the spring of 1874 ; closed in the spring of 1876. 9th. Rev. H. M. Stone, commenced his labors in June, 1876, and closed October, 1877. 10th. A call now pending to Rev. Wmn. E. Bassett (1878), who has preached for some months past.

List of Deacons .- Joseph Marsh, Nathan Leonard, 1771; Joshua Philips,* 1783-90; Jonathan Brewster,+ 1789-1800; Rufus Marsh,* 1789-1802; Ezra Leonard, 1800; Ebenezer Niles, + 1801; Asahel Prentice, ; 1801-6; Charles Stark- weather,* 1806; Azariah Parsons,+ 1811-46; Daniel Pierce,* 1828-38; Asa Marble,* 1829-37; Norman Allen,+ 1836-78; Lyman White,* 1838-46; Schuyler R. Wilbur,+ 1847-67; Jonathan Brewster, 1867; La Fayette Stevens, 1870. The last Jonathan Brewster is great-grandson of the first.

As already stated, during the year 1870 the inside of the church editice was taken out and entirely remodeled, at an expense of $4000. The church at first was built by the sale of the pews, and they were owned by individuals. When it was remodeled the money was raised in the same way, the society at first paying individuals for their property in the house. To show the harmony and energy with which the people took hold

* Dismissed to other churches.

+ Died.

of the matter, it may be stated that after the house was com- pleted notice was given of the time the pews would be sold at auction ; the people met, and in one half-day they were all sold for enough to pay all expenses and $500 over and above all, so that the church or society have no debt, nor ever had one.

Present membership, 106 ; congregation, ahout 200; attend- ance at Sunday-school, about 75; library, 150 volumes ; A. J. Randall, superintendent; Jonathan Brewster, clerk of the church.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, WEST WORTHINGTON.

This society was formed about thirty years ago, and its con- gregation is drawn from the immediate neighborhood around it and from portions of Peru. Soon after its formation a neat and convenient chapel was erected upon a pleasant site in the village of West Worthington.

METHODIST CHURCH, SOUTH WORTHINGTON.

This society was formed in 1828, and the congregation was gathered, to some extent, from the neighboring towns of Chesterfield, Norwich, and Chester. A small chapel of one and a half stories was built about 1820-30, costing $400. The same building is now used as a store at South Worthington. Previous to the erection of this house the meetings were held in private dwellings, in barns, and, in pleasant weather, under a maple-tree still standing there. Horace Cole states that he with six others joined the church under this tree. From D. P. Hewitt and other older citizens we learn that Mr. Cole was the chief promoter of the enterprise; that his house was open for ministers, and his barns for ministers' horses; that he was the life and soul of the church-work done at that point.

Early ministers were Rev. John Luckey, Rev. Mr. White, Rev. Mr. Scott. Elijah Cole was the first class-leader. Horace Cole, steward. A new meeting-house was built in 1847, at an expense of $2000. It has been recently repaired and remodeled, and is now a handsome, neat country church.

BURIAL-PLACES.

The following votes appear in the records :

May 10, 1769 .- Voted to have a burying-place upon Mr. Alexander Miller's land, as much as shall be thought convenient. Voted to have a burying-place upon Lot No. 35, where it shall be thought most convenient. Voted to have a burying-place upon Lot No. 50.

These three were therefore the old burying-grounds of the town. There are now five under the care of the town : the Centre Cemetery, in charge of C. K. Brewster ; the Corners Cemetery, in charge of C. B. Towers; the Ringville Cemetery, in charge of William Cole; the cemetery west of Ringville, in charge of G. W. Blackman; and the cemetery near the house of Lincoln Stewart, of which he has charge.

Private burials have taken place near where Emerson Friselle now lives, but the bodies were afterward removed. The Converse family and others were buried near the present place of Charles W. Smith. There is said to have been one burial on the farm now owned by Lorenzo Edwards. It is said that an Indian was buried half a mile north of the turn- pike, about on the line between Hampshire County and Berk- shire.

TOWN SOCIETIES.

There have been many organizations for religious work during the history of the town, especially in the early mission- ary period, when whatever was done locally was usually by means of a "society." These disappeared under the modern methods of acting through the pastor of the church, with less agents and less " local machinery." Temperance organiza- tions have also existed from time to time, and though each lasted for only a brief period, yet they preserved, intensified, and perpetuated their principles, and secured for Worthington its present high character as a temperance town. Lyceums and other means of literary improvement have sometimes had

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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

a brief existence, calling out and cultivating talent for public speaking which might otherwise never have been known. All these organizations have left their impress for good in the improved morals of society, and have secured a higher ad- vancement in refinement and culture.

PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR OF SPECIAL NOTE.

The West Worthington Falls are worth a visit by the tourist and the lover of nature. A cataract seventy-five feet in depth, the gorge below bordered by rocky precipices, and these surrounded by wild and romantic scenery, form a pic- ture of perpetual beauty and sublimity. In the summer the stream diminishes in magnitude until it is a mere sparkling rivulet of silver leaping over the rocks and into the chasm below. In the winter the current is broader and stronger, and in seasons of freshet this stream, so full of beauty in the quiet summer, now roars and rushes with a force that dashes aside every opposing obstacle, and plunges madly into the gulf below. The entire fall equals 200 feet in the distance of half a mile.

Knowles Hill, a mile or more north of Worthington Cor- ners, is an elevation from which many charming views may be obtained. It is easy of ascent, and it is proposed to erect a tower there for the accommodation of visitors.

Parsons' Ifill is a high elevation in the northern part of the town, and worthy of a visit. Bashan Hill occupies the north- western angle of the town, above West Worthington, and has many attractive features. White Rock in the south, with its curious geological formation, is worthy of note.

The old stage-route has considerable interest clustering around it, for it was a line of travel in the time of the Revolu- tion, long before the establishment of the regular stages. Troops passed over it from the Connecticut Valley to Albany. There were then the tavern of Alexander Miller, at the Buf- fington place ; of Lieut. Meech, and that of Nathaniel Daniels, at the Tillson Bartlett place. At the last two officers were entertained, but probably not at the first, if he was an inveter- ate Tory, as stated in Rice's history.

INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.

The principal business is that of agriculture. A large por- tion of the town possesses a fertile soil, free of rocks sufficient for tillage. Other portions are excellent for grazing. In carly times considerable lumber was made from the forests that covered the town, and in later years there is still something of this business done, while there are various forms of wood- work manufactured.

The town was noted for the number and quality of sheep for many years. The people shared largely in the fine-wool furor that swept over this county. And there are many of the present citizens who were obliged to sit up more nights in trying to save the lives of lambs than of their children,-lambs, as one man expresses it, which no one ought to have tried to raise north of Florida! This business, however, rapidly de- clined, and now there are thirteen articles of production that exceed in amount that of wool. The dairy business was also a source of former prosperity, and is considerably revived in recent years, a new impulse having been given to it by the establishment of a cheese-factory. This was built by Horace Cole, at the corners, in the winter of 1874-75. There is about $3000 worth of cheese made annually.

The exports from this town, like those of other similar mountain towns, are so numerous and of such variety as to defy classification.

MILLS, FACTORIES, ETC.

Commeneing upon Stevens' Brook, at the east line of the town, there is located the grist-mill, saw-mill, and turning- works of Aaron and Lafayette Stevens ; sieve-rims and other varieties of wood-work are made there. Their saw-mill is said to be upon the site of the old Col. Worthington grist-

mill given for the use of the town. Their water-privilege has thus been improved from one hundred and ten to one hun- dred and fifteen years. The first millers lived not far from here,-Luke Bonney and David Bronson. The property has been in the Stevens family over sixty years. Next above on this brook is the site of the old saw-mill of Ezekiel Tower, built forty years ago or more; abandoned perhaps in 1860; property passed into the hands of Horace Cole. Farther up, in the woods of E. S. Squires, is the site of a former grist- mill,-an old affair,-perhaps not in use since 1800. The father of Noah Hatch used to tend that mill. Above, on Bronson's Brook, a tributary of Stevens', were the wood-manufacturing works of M. A. & G. Bates,-shovel-handles and similar articles. They were burned in 1858 or 1859, having run per- haps ten or twelve years. Near this place is the Sampson saw-mill, and also grist-mill, founded not far from 1830, con- tinned to the present time in the same family ; now owned by Wm. Sampson., The grandfather of the present Wm. Samp- son is said to have had a clothing-mill very early. Above the Sampsons a mile or so is the site of a saw-mill abandoned perhaps fifty years ago. It was owned by Edmund Tillson. Farther south, and west from the junetion of Bronson's and Stevens' Brooks, is E. C. Brown's cider-mill of the present time, run by water-power.

On the Ringville stream, known as " Little River," at the southeast, and just at the town-line of Huntington, were for- merly located the works of Mr. Weeks for the manufacture of children's sleds and wagons,-abandoned some years ago. Next above is the water-privilege at South Worthington, near the Methodist Church. Ilere was an ancient saw-mill, dating back to the first settlement of the town perhaps. It was burned, and Samuel Cole rebuilt it, and also a grist-mill, about 1829. Ile retained it but a short time, when the property passed to Horace Cole, who retained it some twelve years ; since that it has been in the hands of various owners. The grist-mill was given up in 1842 or 1843. Charles Smith com- menced making various kinds of wood-work. At his death, four years ago, the work stopped, and the buildings are un- used. It is an excellent water-privilege. There was a grist- mill with the old saw-mill before 1820, as D. P. Hewitt states. About a mile above, on the site of Higgins' works, was also a saw-mill of early times. Lyman G. Higgins now has a basket manufactory and a saw-mill. Next above is Ringville water- privilege. This was improved by the sons of the pioneer Ring many years ago,-Elkanah Ring and Thomas Ring. First there was a grist-mill older than 1820 probably. This was changed into a manufactory of window-curtains made of wooden strips, and then to that of children's carriages. The property is now owned by Cole & Ilayden, and their line of work is that of children's sleds and wagons.

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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 152

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