History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 92

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 92

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).

" The first settlement in Westhampton was made in the south westerly part of the town, near the present highway which runs from Kingsley's mill by Nor- ton's tavern to Norwich. Before the town of Norwich was incorporated, in 1773, that town, with Chester, was called Murrayfield, in honor of Col. John Murray, of Rutland ; and that part of Murrayfield which joined Northampton was called Shirkshire and New Plantation.

" People had moved into Murrayfield in 1760, and Northampton wished to open some communication with the new plantation. For this purpose, in 1762, the town of Northampton laid out a road to the boundary-line between Northamp- ton and Murrayfield or Shirkshire, and this was called the Shirkshire road, This road probably followed the old road from Northampton village by Park Hill and King's saw-mill on the Manban or King's River to the present line of Westhamp ton, and thence through Westhampton, on to Murrayfield, substantially where the present road goes from Strong Kingsley's mill-site to the boundary of Hun- tington. But this road was simply a line run in the smoothest places through the woods, whose direction was indicated by some blaze-marks upon the trees. It was laid out very wide so that travelers on horseback could wind their way, dodg- ing the rocks and trees.

" It was some time after this before the road became well trodden into a mere horse-path. We must not be misled by the term road. Indeed, the great route to the West through Blandford, which had been used more than sixty years, was in the time of the Revolution so bad and rough that it is said to have taken 20 yoke of oxen and 80 men to convey a mortar over the hills to the encampment ut West Point.

" Abner Smith was the person who made the first permanent settlement within the present limits of the town of Westhampton. Ile is supposed to have come from Connecticut to Chester or Murrayfield, where he remained a short time, and removed from thence to Westhampton in 1762. It is certain that a poll-tax was levied upon him for the first time that year. He first cleared up some land not far from the spot where Deacon Enoch Lyman used to live. Ilere be built a log house, supposed to be just over the brook where the blacksmith-shop after- ward stood. Here on the banks of the Manhan the first settlement hegan; here the first opening was made in the wilderness. He remained here a year or two, and then built a log house on the south side of the old Shirkshire road, and sold the place to Jonathan Fisher in 1770. This was the beginning of the Fisher place. The second settler was Ebenezer French, who is supposed to have come

287

288

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

from Southampton some time in 1763. He was concerned in King's saw-mill, and finally became the owner of two-thirds of it.

"This mill brought him to the wilds of Westhampton, where he selected a spot for his habitation as near to his mill as he could find on the Sbirkshire road. He made a clearing and built a log house very near the ohl tavern-stand of Land- lord Wright, recently occupied by Martin Wright. Both Smith and French were taxed by the town of Northampton in 1763 and 1764. In the latter year Smith was taxed for 7 acres of land, 2 horses, 1 yoke of oxen, 2 cows, and 3 hogs. French was taxed for 20 acres of land, 1 horse, 1 yoke of oxen, I cow, and I hog. The two families in all numbered 19 persons,-10 in Smith's family, and 9 in French's.

* "In 1765 the names of Smith and French still appear upon the tax-roll, and * * * *

* * * no others.

"In 1766, Abner Smith's name alone appears for that portion of Northampton within the present limits of Westhampton. French had sold out and left. Before the preparation of the tax-roll of 1767 two other settlers had come in, making, with Smith, three. Timothy l'omeroy came from Southampton, and purchased the place begun by French. Ile soon opened a tavern, which was greatly patron- ized by the hands working at the lead mine. Old Nathaniel Strong, of North- ampton, owned a large tract of land situated between the Shirkshire road and the northerly line of Southampton, and embracing the spot occupied in later years by Wm. J. Lyman. This land had a great orchard of sugar-maples upon it, and his boys came out here to make sugar in the spring. In this way the land was explored, and his grandson, Noah Strong, Jr., was indneed to commence a plantation near the orchard. In 1767 he put up a house on the westerly side of the Sonthampton road, and about half-way between the residence, in later years, of Wm. J. Lyman and the Huntington road. His family consisted of his wife and two children, and Jate in the fall a third child, Lemuel, was born, and that was the first birth in the towa of Westhampton.

* * * * *

* *

"In 1765, Samnel Kingsley, of Southampton, deeded to his son Samuel 40 acres, and to his son Joseph Kingsley 50 acres, in Long Division, on Shirkshire rad. In 1768, William Bartlett moved his family into town, and settled upon the same spot, or near the residence of Jared Bartlett, and in the same year Samuel Kingsley, Jr., began to build on the south side of the Norwich road, very near the house where he lived for so many years.

" Martin Clark and John Smith moved into town in 1769. Clark first built upon the north side of the Norwich road, nearly opposite the new house of Mr. Lullen. Soon after this he built another house on the south side of the road, and lived there until his death.

"John Smith was a brother of the first pioneer, Almer."

Ten more persons settled in town in 1770, so that at this time there were about sixteen families in town. And by this time the small openings in the forest were found at various points throughout Long Division,-they were no longer con- fined to the old " Shirkshire" road.

By referring to the Northampton tax-list of 1771 and look- ing for the names in the Long Division, it will be found that there are 21; and it is interesting to note the statistics then given. There were eight houses : probably this includes only the frame houses. There were 13 horses over three years old, 10} yoke of oxen, 16 swine, 20 sheep over one year old. There were 263 acres in mowing, 40} aeres tillage, and 283 acres pasturing. The whole valuation was £259 18s. Wm. Bart- lett seems to have been the millionaire, having nearly one- fourth of the valuation,-£62 14.s.

In 1772 there were only five names more than those of the previous year. The stock and the valuation were only slightly increased. The six largest tax-payers were the following, in the order named : William Bartlett, Martin Clark, Samuel Kingsley, Timothy Pomeroy, John Smith, and Noah Strong, Jr. Two persons were rated as having one-third of a barn each.

A great amount of attention was given about this time to the mines. They had been thought to be of considerable value a hundred years before, as shown in the records given elsewhere. About ten years before the Revolutionary war, the well-known Ethan Allen and a few other persons came to the mines, purchased large tracts of land in the vicinity, and began an excavation for lead.

After sinking some thousands of dollars rather deeper, probably, than they sunk the shaft, they sold out to William Bowdoin, brother of Gov. Bowdoin, and others. These took hold of the work in great earnest, and employed many hands. They were led on by the common opinion that there was sil- ver as well as lead in the mine. They excavated to the depth of 60 or 70 feet into the rock, and to remove the water which flowed into the pit they put in a pump, which was kept in motion by a stream of water brought more than two miles,

from Sodom Brook, in the southerly part of Westhampton. From this brook the water was carried into a swamp a little south of the former residence of Sylvester Judd, Sr. It then followed the course of a small stream which issued from the easterly part of this swamp, and then a trench more than a mile long was dug to the mine. This trench could be seen in some places down to a late period of time, and probably some traces of it may be yet seen. This mining excitement along the south line of the town no doubt had some effect in in- ducing early settlement.

It is well known that Ethan Allen was somewhat rough and profane. He is said to have neither feared God nor re- garded man. He was met at the mine on one occasion by Rev. Jonathan Judd, who took occasion to gently rebuke Allen for his profanity. The latter put in a plea of defense on the ground of the depravity of human nature in general ; but the minister's words had an effeet upon him, and he was not heard to swear for several days afterward.

The population increased rapidly during the six years pre- ceding the incorporation of the town. The land was eheap, the soil was productive, yielded fair returns for labor, and settlers found it better than they had expected. The people worked upon the roads. Different parts of the town began to have easy communication with each other.

Eleven years before incorporation, the town of Northampton voted to build a bridge over the Manhan at King's saw-mill, and in the next year, 1768, voted to build a bridge over Sodom Brook. The latter was the first bridge built in Westhampton. The streams were forded previous to that date.

In [771 it was voted to build a bridge beyond Samuel Kings- ley's.

Thus little by little the early steps of settlement took place. Small neighborhoods gradually increased.

Meetings were held in various parts of the town. Occa- sionally a school was opened for a few weeks at a time.

The " Long Division" began to put on the appearance of a settled community.

" When Aber Smith came into town in 1762, this part of Northampton was a wilderness, covered with an unbroken forest. In every direction were woods, underbrush, and mountain elevations. No habitation was to be seen; no pioneer had put up his log abode ; the woodman's axe was not heard, and the entire re- gion was as silent as the grave, save when interrupted by the sighing of the wind or the gambol of wild animals.

" Even as late as 1800, one standing upon the top of Tob or Mineral Ifill, or the hill near Norton's old tavern, which at this day open to the eye such beau- tiful prospects and scenes of surpassing loveliness, looked down upon hardly a mark of civilization save the curling smoke above the tall trees rising from the scattered habitations. And there were just the same wikiness and boundless forests stretching over the northerly portion of the town. Old Mrs. Sybil Bring- man, wife of Elisha Bridgman, said she could see nothing but woods and furests from her husband's house, on Hanging Mountain, in 1786."

Besides, Long Division was the despised part of the old plantation laid out in 1654 on the west side of Connecticut River. It had no meadows stretching far and wide ocean-like; it had no interval land resting in the bosom of the mountains and treasuring up the riches of untold ages; and it had no rivers to open up a highway for enterprise and adventure. For a long time after the settlement of Northampton meadow was the only land which had more than a nominal value; other land was not prized, nor had it any temptation to the pioneer.

The early settlers were men of small means, but they were industrious, stout-hearted, and willing to meet dangers and difficulties.

They were the genuine working men and women. There were no ten hours' men in those days. They toiled through fourteen, and sometimes sixteen, hours of the twenty-four.

Perhaps there is no better picture of the early dress and the home-life of the pioneers of these hill towns than the following, written of Westhampton, but applicable to many others :

" Their dress was strong bat simple. Pantaloons were not known in this part of the State ninety years ago. The men, both old and young, wore checkered

289

HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.

shirts, and a sort of brown tow or woolen trousers, or short breeches, known then as ' kilts' or 'skilts.' These only reached just below the knees, generally loose and open at the bottom, but sometimes fastened with a buckle. They had no braces or gallows, but were buttoned tight around the hips in sailor fashion. Boots were rarely seen ; they wore shoes and leggins over their legs in winter ; but all the summer and fall work was done at home and in the mendows hy them barelegged and barefooted. The head was covered with a cay made of the skin of some wild animal, and if perchance any of the men were able to wear a felt hat, it was kept for Smiday-go-to-meeting, and lasted a lifetime.

" Their diet was simple, but it was hearty, and contained the very marrow of life. Seventy years ago bread and milk were the connnon food of New England children for breakfast and supper, except on Saturdays and Sundays, when they made their supper and breakfast of hasty-pudding and milk; but at times in the winter, when milk was scarce, a little water and apple-molasses were jmt into a dish of cider and the whole warmed, then toasted bread was crumbed into it, and this mixture of bread and cider constituted the meal,-and down to the nineteenth century the adults and children made their morning and their even- ing meals of this same bread and milk or bread and cider.

" This was good eating. The Indian-bread of our foremotbers bore no resem- blance to the tasteless stuff which goes by that name to-day, and it was far more nutritious and wholesome than the sour, soggy bread, streaked with salæratus, which is brought upon the table by our domestics.

" The dinner was then the great meal, as it is now. The children then were allowed to come to the table. The dinner consisted of corned beef and pork,- boiled often with potatoes, turnips, and cabbage, commonly called ' pot-luck ;" to this was added, once a week, a boiled Indian-pudding; and during the most laborions seasons of the year they made their suppers of this pot-luck, brought on to the table in the shape of cold victuals. They had no butcher-carts. Water or cider was the common drink, save on Sundays or festive occasions, and rarely on washing-days, when a little bohea tea was steeped and resteeped as long as it would color or give any taste to the water. At a much later day cider- brandy or pupelo came into use.

" But the grandmothers,-and their loving daughters too,-they contributed too largely to the success of the young town to be forgotten. They bore their full share of the toils and hardships of pioneer life. They were the spinners, the weavers, tailors, nurses, and doctors of the town. They were the dairy-maids and cooks, as well as the friends, sweethearts, and housewives of the fathers.

" They were really the helps meet for their husbands. They were always at work. The morning began with work, work, work, kept on all through the day, and late into the night by the light of the pitch-pine fagot. They brought up the cows from the pasture and milked them; they fell the calves, nursed the sickly lambs, fed the pigs, raised the chickens and the goslings, and took care of the garden. These, however, were the daily chores. They often raked and spread hay. They pulled and spread flax. Mr. Sylvester Judd's manuscripts give an instance of a mother and daughter that did all the cooking, washing, and meudt- ing for twelve laborers, and at the same fiore took care of the milk of thirty cous!"

NOTE .- The compiler follows the orator in repeating this story, but will suggest that to modern readers it may throw some doubt upon Mr. Sylvester Judd's veracity or accuracy, or both ! !

" Then again, almost all the clothing was made from flax and wool raised in the family. We stop not here to speak of their skill in making rye-bread, or rye- and-Indian, when we are all of us beginning to abandon our cream-of-tartar bis- cuits and sala ratus bread made out of the choicest brand of Genesee or St. Louis flour, and trying to substitute in the place thereof the sweet, nutritious rye- and Indian-bread of our grandmothers. True it is that these good old dames some- times of a Mouday, after a hard day's work at washing, would sit down and sip a little bohea tea, and that now and then several women of a neighborhood would get together and talk gossip; but then no time was lost, for the knitting- needle or the darning-needle moved more rapidly than their tongues. And this tvil and struggle followed day after day, and continued from the beginning to the end of the year; there were no holidays then: picnics and barbacues had not then been heard of.

" Almost the only interruptions were the twenty-four hours of the Sabbath, that were sacredly kept, and the occasional calls for extra meetings on weck- days, when unusual attention was given to religion. Aml yet they grew up hearty, stalwart men and genuine women, and lived to a ripe old age. Sickness rarely came into the householl, the doctor was seldom called in, they never bouglit any patent medicine, and it was not often that any illness afflicted them which a little 'pennyrial' or ' thoroughwort' tea, or ' Piera' would not cure.

" The dress of the women was as simple as that of the men. Most of their clothing consisted of wool, flax, and cotton made by their own hands. The ma- terials were colored in the dye-tub, which used to stand near the great kitchen fire-place, or by the aid of butternut-bark. Generally they wore a black or striped petticoat with a white linen gown, which extended down a little below the waist, and a long checked apron in front. When at work out-of-doors they were sometimes bareheaded, but more commonly wore a rush hat or a pasteboard bonnet bound with a cape to protect the neck. Perhaps some of the ohler peopde of the present time can even yet remember the butternut-colored petticouts warn by the school-girls, and the flannel gowns of a purple color worn by adults. These were made up loose, adapted to the action of the body, and not fitted to sweep the streets; cut sbort so that the feet could move freely, and drawn up by a string in a few folds about the waist so loose that the lungs could perform all their duties.

" So dressed, the boys had hard work to catch the girls in the race at tag. For winter the hood was the lonnet, a Vandyke was worn over the shoulders, a

flannel gown protected the chest, and thick woolen mittens covered the hands. This was the golden age of homespun.

" It is no wonder that before the energy of such men and women the forest disappeared and the wilderness blossomed as the rose. The families of our fore- fathers were large. Four or five children were a small number ; seven and eight were the more common numbers; often there were ten or twelve robust chil- dren in the family, and sometimes sixteen. The children were born healthy, they were fed upou plain, simple food, they grew up stout and healthy, and the dwellings of the parents were filled and made vocal with the merry clatter of buxom girls and ruddy boys."

It may be thought that in this long quotation we are allow- ing the orator to wander at his own sweet will over the fields of his boyhood and revel in the Arcadian simplicity of those patriarchal times.

He gives so rosy and charming a picture of those pioneer homes that we are tempted to reverse Solomon's opinion and say " that the former times were better than these." The gen- eral picture is no doubt correct ; there were rugged physical frames ; there were stalwart men and strong women skilled in every known industry of the household ; there were bounding pulses, and health and joyous laughter in the homes ; but still the fact remains that grare-yards were necessary in those days, and the student of pioneer history wandering through them will find they contain others besides the old men of a hundred years. It may be doubted, if not denied, that families were healthier then than now. Read the moss-covered records on the low, small grave-stones, trace the death-notices in the early files of the Hampshire Gazette, and we venture the assertion that the deaths in childhood, youth, and middle age will bear as large a proportion to the whole number as they have at any period since.

In these large, old families of ten, twelve, and even sixteen, the compiler of family notices will find himself compelled to write "died in infancy," "died in childhood," "died young," against one, two, three, or more of the names. It will sur- prise any one to read the columns of death-notices and see how many young people died in the very bloom of youth and open- ing promise : as Grace Fisher, only daughter of Aaron Fisher, Sr., and HIophni Judd, the talented young lawyer.

Canker rash, black tongue, scarlet fever, and dysentery raged among the children, and desolated homes then as the same or other diseases do now. Exposure, hardships, weak constitu- tions inherited, brought death to youth and middle age. Doc- tors could live well in these hill-towns then,-they are steadily starved out now.

There is no doubt that the children which survived were rugged. They must have been ! It may not be possible to compare the past with the present accurately, but the number of very old people now living in these New England towns bears significant testimony that modern forms of living are no more enervating and destructive than the old ; and if the fami- lies of a hundred years ago had drank less cider and eaten less pork, it is possible the roll of octogenarians in 1879 might have been longer than it is. It is not clear that Westhampton has deteriorated as to the health of the people. If we look at the faith, the virtues, the economy, of the old times, it is per- haps possible to reach a different conclusion. And yet the gos- pel with its sweet words of hope is still dear to warm, loving hearts, and yearly the old and the young are lying down to their last sleep " soothed and sustained" by its unfaltering trust.

There are not so many natives of the town graduating from college as once there were, hut there are not so many people, by nearly one-half, to furnish the students. Besides, the extrava- gance of modern educational courses has practically barred the doors of all higher education except to the wealthy. Restore academic and college life to what it was when Justin Edwards completed a full course for less than $400, and there may be many to avail themselves of their advantages.

PHYSICIANS OF EARLY TIMES.

The first and only physician for a long series of years was Dr. William Hooker. He was the son of Rov. John Hooker,

290

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

of Northampton, and was born in November, 1766. IFe studied medicine with Dr. Ebenezer Ilunt, of Northampton. He settled in Westhampton in 1788. His homestead and office were at the present place of George Burt. He continued in practice for forty-six years, retiring from active work in 1834. He lived to the age of ninety-four, dying Feb. 27, 1861. Like the pastor of the church, Dr. Hooker became known to every one in Westhampton. Skillful in his profession, a sincere, devoted Christian, he followed closely in the footsteps of Him who went about doing good. Of a cheerful temperament, he carried sunshine into the chamber of the sick. ITis religious convictions were strong and fervent, rendering his declining years peaceful, hopeful, and happy to the last.

Dr. Orcutt was a noted physician in more modern times.

LAWYERS.

It is not proper perhaps to count any lawyers as actual resi- dents of Westhampton. Several going out from their native town became distinguished in the legal profession elsewhere : their names appear in the list of graduates. Among those who have drawn legal papers, settled estates, and transacted much general business that sometimes falls within the province of the legal profession, may be particularly mentioned John A. Judd, long a magistrate, and consulted for many years on questions of law, as well as on public business.

Thomas C. Davenport at the present time does a variety of legal writing.

MERCHANTS.

Elijah Norton was trading at an early date, his advertise- ments appearing in 1794. His store was just south of the present town-hall. Others trading at that point were Israel Wright, Wm. Pease, and John A. Judd.

Wm. Hooker & Co. were in trade at about the same time as Mr. Norton. Their store was on the corner where E. B. Pratt now trades. Sylvester Judd, Jr., succeeded Hooker & Co. Others in trade at that store have been Mr. Baldwin, Jona- than Judd, John A. Judd, and Anson Chapman. E. B. Pratt is the present proprietor.

The present Davenport building was the old town-hall and centre school-house. In late years a store has been kept in it most of the time. F. Il. Judd has been in trade there the last few years.

PUBLIC-HOUSES.

The earliest tavern must have been that of Timothy Pome- roy, which, it is supposed, he opened 1768 or 1769. This was when the mines in Southampton, near by, were being worked, and his house is said to have been patronized by the miners largely. The tavern of Landlord Wright is alluded to very often in connection with the early annals of the time. It was one of the prominent features of the old Shirkshire road. The tavern of Elijah Norton was also a noted stopping-place of early times in Westhampton. He bought out Seth Burk in 1785. Elijah Norton also kept tavern at the centre, not far from the present town-hall.

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 92

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