History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 127

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 896

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" This we thought good to leave with you that you might not, against their wills, expose us to such a temptation as such an opportunity might be. This, and not any respect of resmining the estate of any que with ns, is the ground of this intimation; but the ground also of our lines is to desire this favor, that you would refresh us in this sad state that we are in by letting us understand whether we niny have any hopes of such a favor as may be a safety for us, in case the Lord should put ns in a personal state to remove by removing his afflicting hand, and whether or uu you would advise ns to adventure to cast any seed into the land, if God doth detain us at the present where we are. Yon know (we judge) how our fields lie. We request not anything at your hands to Jay you under any temptation, and therefore we have ingeniously intimated what the thoughts of the Bay gentlemen are concerning us. But our danger is such as we cannot settle upon anything, and if we are like to have no relief from your- selves, it being known, may be an occasion to force ns into the fields. The Lord shine forth, and show us our duty, and bring us to a willing kissing of the rod. We shall not add, only desiring the Almighty to Le onr shield."

The town records show that there was much strong feeling in opposition to the order, and, Northampton manifesting simi- lar strong objection, the order was shortly after rescinded, and the towns left to take care of themselves as best they could.

Although Westfield suffered `considerably during the war from incursions made by small parties of marauding Indians from time to time, the town escaped the serious trouble at first apprehended. Buildings were burned, a few persons were shot, and others carried away into captivity, but the loss of life and property was comparatively small.

The pursuits of daily life were, as may well be imagined, pushed forward in those days amid dire apprehensions, and only to a limited degree. No man ventured forth to daily labor without being fully prepared to defend himself from savage attacks, which he knew might be made at any moment. At night, sentries and patrols were constantly on guard to protect the sleeping inhabitants.

At the close of the war the town entered at once upon a new era of prosperity, the population began to increase rapidly, and the busy bum of industry cheered and encouraged the patient hearts to look forward to a bright and peaceful future.

In 1731 the town was divided into outer and inner com- mons, the former being respectively at the north and south sides of the town, and the latter in the centre between them. Grants of lands in the outer common were made to 107 house- holders, in tracts ranging from 12 to 515 acres. Among the grantees the Ashleys, Shepards, Mandsleys, Banerofts, Fow- lers, Taylors, Ingersolls, Kelloggs, Sackets, Nobles, Roots, Deweys, and Phelpses were the largest possessors. In 1733 the inner commons were divided among 106 grantees. As a mat- ter of historical interest, the names of the grantees other than those above noted are here given : Loomas, Ponder, Church, King, Gunn, Bush, Root, Lee, Warner, Saxton, Weller, Wil- liams, Bull, Handchet, Martindale, Pixley, Bagg, Sexton, Ingersoll, Kinsley, Cadwill, Old, Stiels, Hains, Stiles, Granger, Egleston, Coots, Nash, and Cark.

In 1805 the inhabitants of the town began to concentrate the chief settlement at the centre, or where the village of Westfield is now located. The erection of the first church at the centre in that year was a pronounced step in favor of concentration there. The earliest settlement, as has been ob-

served, was at Little River in 1666, and it was not until many years after that the inhabitants began to make settlements of any consequence in any quarter far removed therefrom.

The first lawyers of Westfield of whom mention is made were John Ashley, who graduated at Yale in 1730; Josiah Dwight, who practiced here in 1750; Samuel Fowler, in 1768 ; and John Phelps.

DESCENDANTS OF THE PIONEERS.

Among the descendants of Westfield's early settlers now living in the town, may be mentioned the Ashleys, Atwaters, Averys, Bancrofts, Bush, Cad wells, Campbells, Clapps, Clarks, Cooks, Curtis, Deweys, Fowlers, Hanchetts, Hastings, Hol- combs, Hulls, Kelloggs, Eglestons, Kings, Kneils, Lees, Loomis, Moseleys, Nobles, Pease, Phelps, Roots, Sacketts, Sextons, Shepards, Smiths, Taylors, Upsons, Wellers, Whit- neys, and Wrights.

EARLY ROADS.

We are told by the proprietors' land records that in 1668 John Williams and George Phelps were given permission to lay out a way two rods wide, " from the way that runs thro' the Meadow on the East side of the river, between the lands of Edward Hart and George Sexton, and so running to Pine Hill." A highway was also ordered to be laid out to Fort Meadow by Mr. Dudley's, and so running down the hill to the bridge, and thence to the west corner of Mr. Taylor's plowing land, and then to the meadow. Another road ex- tended from the meeting-house west to Filer's hemlock, four rods wide, and then to Deacon Hanchett's, seven rods wide, and then to the northwest corner of Samuel Root's lot, and then west to Pochassie farm. From this road a road was laid out, running north to the river by the westerly end of Noble's lot, sixteen rods wide, and so over the river, and thence by a bunch of trees at King's ditch, running up by the river to the hill, and so into the common.

There was one from Deacon Hanchett's home-lot, running southerly by a spruce swamp, and thence westerly by Nathan- iel Weller's lot to the Pine Hills. Another one ran from the meeting-house south to the plain gate, and from the gate to Deacon Taylor's land, and so to the right across Deacon Tay- lor's land to the river, and then over the river into the "hun- dred acres," running up the hill across the " hundred aeres" into the commons. In 1670, Springfield received permission to build a highway from the WForonico River westerly to West- field. An early road was made from the two-mile brook, near the lower field, to Country Hill, and into the commons toward Springfield. There was also one across the Western Meadow under the hill to the pine plains.

REVOLUTIONARY REMINISCENCES.

Preliminary to their subsequent action during the stirring days of the Revolution, the citizens of Westfield, in Septem- ber, 1774, chose Eldad Taylor, John Moseley, and Elisha Parks to represent the town at Northampton in a county congress, to be held September 22d of that year, for the pur- pose of consultation and deliberation over " ye present dis- tressing times." In January, 1775, John Moseley and Elisha Parks were chosen as representatives to the Provincial Con- gress at Cambridge, and when there " not to take up Govern- ment without further order from the town." In February, 1775, it was voted to encourage the company of Minute-Men who had offered their services ; and upon a search for guns " for ye use of ye Minute-Men on a sudden emergence," the committee reported that they had found " between 30 and 40 guns and a few Bagganets."

The committee of correspondence appointed to carry out the resolves of the Provincial Congress consisted of Dr. Mather, Col. Moseley, Capt. Wm. Shepard, Eldad Taylor, Col. Parks, Daniel Moseley, Daniel Fowler, David Moseley, Joseph Root, William Sacket, Samuel Fowler, John Shepard,

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

Jr., and John Phelps. It was voted that " the Minute-Men shall have one shilling per half-day exercising, they spending four hours in the service once a week." April 10, 1775, it was voted to raise £25 to purchase powder and " warlike stores." In February, 1775, it was voted " the town will not raise any money to encourage the Inlisting of Soldiers into the Con- tinental Service." In March, 1778, a committee was chosen to remonstrate to the General Court, etc., " of the Nakedness of the army, of the Necessity of its being supplyed with Clothing and other Necessaries immediately." In April of the same year a committee was appointed to provide 53 shirts and 53 pairs of shoes and stockings for the use of the Conti- mental army at the cost of the town. In May of the same year it was voted that each soldier raised to reinforce the Continental army for nine months be paid the sum of £30.

June 29, 1779, it was resolved to raise the sum of £1200 "for the encouragement of ten soldiers to be raised to join the Continental army forthwith for the space of nine months." It was also voted " to give the soldiers who enlist in the ser- vice for the term of nine months twenty shillings per month to each soldier, to be paid in silver or grain." At the same time it was resolved "to raise one hundred and twenty pounds to be paid to four soldiers to be raised and sent to Providence." July 20, 1779, it was resolved to raise nine months' men forth- with, and to pay each man 40s. per month. Oct. 20, 1779, it was agreed " to raise the sum of thirty pounds bounty for each soldier now to be raised for the Continental Service, and Des- tined to Claverack,* and also their Milage Money, at two shillings per mile."

June 16, 1780, it was

Voted " to give the nineteen soldiers to be raised by this town for the Conti- nental army for the term of Six Months three pounds per month in hard money, or Continental money equivalent, as wages, and one Thousand Dollars in Conti- mental Bills as Bounty for each man, and the Bounty money to be paid before the marching of the men. Or Four Pounds per month in hard money or Paper Courancy equivalent, as the soldiers shall chose." Also, that " the Town meet on the Parade to-morrow at four o'clock in the afternoon, in order to enlist the soldiers aforesaid, and that the Captains of the several companies be directed to provide their several companies, when mustered, as much rum as they may think proper."

July 5, 1780, the town raised five additional six months' men, and a number of three months' men, to the latter of whom it was agreed to pay 10s. over and above their State pay, in hard money, and $500 in hand in Continental bills. In July, 1780, in response to a requisition from the General Court, the town agreed to purchase twelve horses for use in the Continental army, and directed the town treasurer to give the notes of the town in payment. In October, 1780, it was voted to increase the offer for six months' men by 20s. per month, hard money. At the same time it was voted to raise $44,000 to purchase beef ordered by the General Court for the army. A committee was also chosen to take into consideration the resolve of the General Court relative to raising more soldiers. Upon their report, it was resolved to raise eighteen men. At this time it was voted to raise £30,000 to defray the expenses of the past year.

July 2, 1781, it was voted to raise £130, hard money, to purchase beef ordered by the General Court for the army. I the same month the General Court ordered the town to raise fifteen three months' men, and, as an inducement, the town offered each soldier £4, hard money, per month.

Sept. 21, 1781, it was resolved

"To give encouragement to the militia called to be in readiness to serve under the command of Governor Trumble in the State of Connecticut ;" and further, "to give to each soldier who shall march into Connecticut, belonging to this town, to be under the command of Governor Trumble, three pounds per month in hard money."

May 13, 1778, in response to a requisition for men to join the army, Noah Cobley and Paul Noble enlisted, and David Fowler, Roger Bagg, Enoch Holcomb, Joseph Dewey, Simeon Stiles, Jacob Noble, Benjamin Sexton, John Moxley, Martin

Root, Stephen Fowler, Eli Granger, Roger Noble, and Daniel Fowler paid their fines. Upon the first alarm sounded at Lexington, Westfield sent out a company of 70 men, com- manded by Capt. Warham Parks, whose lieutenants were John Shepard and Richard Falley. Every man in this com- pany was a citizen of Westfield.

The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States, signed Sept. 3, 1783, was publicly celebrated in West- field by joyful demonstrations. The day was ushered in by the discharge of cannon, and at noon there was a salute of 13 guns to mark the number of the States then banded to- gether. The inhabitants then listened to an eloquent sermon preached by Rev. Noah Atwater, and in the afternoon there was a publie banquet, in which visitors from many neighbor- ing towns participated. The drinking of each toast was at- tended by the discharge of a cannon. A display of fireworks in the evening terminated the celebration in a glowing manner.

The HON. WILLIAM SHEPARD, one of the most distin- guished men known in connection with the history of West- field, was a son of Deacon John Shepard, who settled in the town in 1700. 1Ie was born in 1737, and at the age of seven- teen enlisted in the military service of the government. At the age of twenty-one he was a lieutenant under Gen. Aber- erombie, and at twenty-two served as captain in Gen. Amherst's command. He fought six years in the French war, and took part in the battles of Fort William Henry, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Isle aux Noix, St. John's, and Montreal. Upon the close of the war he returned to Westfield, where he lived in peaceful retirement until 1775, when he was called to take part in the Revolutionary struggle. In that year, with the commission of lieutenant-colonel, he repaired to Roxbury, and served a long time near Washington's own per- son. He was a general under La Fayette in 1780, and thus continued until the war terminated. Ile fought in 22 battles, and retired on gallantly-won laurels as an eminent soldier and a man noted for many sterling qualities of character. Subse- quently he was chosen major-general in the militia, a State Senator, a representative at the General Court, a represen- tative to Congress, and was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to treat with the Penobscot Indians, as well as later, by the national government, to treat with the Six Nations.

General Shepard was also chosen Presidential elector at two elections, and received in numerous ways evidences of the high regard in which he was held by the people of Westfield. He was again called from retirement in 1786, upon the outbreak of Shays' rebellion, and in the detailed history of that cam- paign-presented elsewhere-the valuable services he rendered the commonwealth will be found fully set forth. He died in 1817, aged eighty.

Among other officers in the Revolutionary war from West- field were Maj. Warham Parks (afterward Gen. Parks), Capt. John Gray, and Lieut. David Sackett. Among those of Westfield's citizens who lost their lives in the service were Ahijah Dewey, James Ashley, Jared Noble, and a Mr. Rogers.

The town records covering the period of the war of 1812 are silent touching the action of the town as connected with the part it took in the events of that period, if any.

NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS.

In March, 1676, the town, considering " the hand of God upon them in having let loose the Indians upon them," re- solved that the inhabitants should be so ordered that while a portion went out to labor, the others should remain near home to guard the settlement. The following month it was agreed to build a fort near Mr. Whiting's house, of such size that all the inhabitants might come within its compass.

As an early indication of the organization of a military company, it may be observed that, in 1674, Samuel Loomis was appointed " ensine of the foote company of the towne."

* Now the city of Hudson, N. Y.

VIEW OF RES LOOKING FROM THE NORTHWEST

943

HISTORY OF HAMPDEN COUNTY.

In 1676, John Moseley was appointed a lieutenant in the same command.

In 1698 it was voted in town-meeting that any person fail- ing to attend town-meeting should be fined one shilling for each neglect. In 1703 the selectmen were instructed to raise £3 with the county rate to pay the representative for the town. Aug. 11, 1703, the selectmen, with John Noble, were in- structed to agree with " ye Ingenes" for the purchase of all lands lying within the town bounds not already purchased.

In 1703 it was ordered " that there shall be a highway turn down Capt. Phelps' corner, and so over ye River where it may be most Convenant, and soe out into ye Commons in ye place which is called Goodman Ponder's Hollow."

June 30, 1704, it was voted “ytt ye severall houses in ye towne ytt are forted shall stand and be Defended and have theire severall proportions of men posted to ym by ye Comity appointed, as may be most convenient for their defense."

In March, 1719, it was voted " that Philip Tremain may set up a litle house in ye highway, near the sider-press, and near to John Gun's orchard, and one-quarter of an acre of land where it can best bee spared, and to improve it dureing ye Towne's pleasure." In 1721 it was voted to allow the town of Springfield " five shillings" toward the building of a court- bouse there. In those days land was not particularly scarce or high-priced, for one may read in the early town records nu- merous entries such as, -" voted John Smith - acres of land wherever he can find it." In 1724, Capt. John Ashley, of West- field, for the consideration of £460, " three barrels of sider, and thirty quarts of rum," obtained for himself and Col. John Stoddard, Capt. Henry Dwight, and Capt. Luke Hitchcock, a deed of the tract of land in which are now comprised the towns of Great Barrington, Sheffield, Egremont, Alford, Mount Washington, and Boston Corner. Twenty-one Indian sachems signed the deed. In 1735, Mr. Ashley made from the Indians a further purchase of a tract of land two miles wide and twenty-six in length, extending from Westfield to what is now Sheffield. These purchases opened the settle- ment of Sheffield, whither many Westfield people removed, the first to go being Obadiah Noble.

In 1747 it was decided to fort the town, and a " Comitty," being chosen to take charge of the matter, reported it best "to make a fort Round Stephen Kellog's house, and Lieut. Con- sider Moseley's and Doct. Ashley's house, and one over the Little River, and one over the great River, and two watch boxes, and to he done by the town."

In 1756 the town was visited by an earthquake shock, which displaced several chimneys. In 1792 two similar shocks were felt, by which many buildings were shaken.

In 1777, in accordance with an act of the General Court, the selectmen of Westfield established a scale of prices of mer- chandise and of labor, from which it appears that wheat was to be sold at 6s. per bushel, oats at 2s., pork at 4d. per pound, beef 3d., men's shoes 9s. per pair, tobacco 6d. per pound, and English hay 4s. per hundred. For keeping a horse a night and a day Is. 6d. were charged. Common labor cost 38. per day, and farming labor 53s. for six months. Horse hiring was 3d. per mile. Flip was 1s. per mug, and "Cyder" 6d. per mug.

Touching the early opening of trade, tradition says that a trading-house was established by three young men in 1662 at the confluence of the Little and Great Rivers, and further that the young men, after tarrying a year, suddenly disap- peared, carried off, probably, by the Indians.

The records say that in December, 1672, Joseph Whiting, Thomas Dewey, Josiah Dewey, and Jedediah Dewey finished the building of a saw-mill and corn-mill on Two-Mile Brook, and that they proposed to manage the concern in partnership. In 1680, Lieut. Moseley, Thomas and Sergeant Dewey were granted permission to set a grist-mill and saw-mill on Two- Mile Brook, at its mouth. After this, saw-mills began to

multiply quite rapidly. Feb. 10, 1808, David Morley was authorized to build a toll-bridge across Agawam River, " near the late dwelling-house of Stephen Noble, deceased." June 17, 1800, the town of Westfield was empowered to build a toll- bridge " over Westfield Great River, near Parks' Mills." In 1801, Ezra Marvin, Elihu Stow, and others, of Westfield, ob- tained a charter as " The Eleventh Massachusetts Turnpike Corporation," for the purpose of building a road to run from Westfield through Russell, Blandford, and Chester.

One of the old landmarks of the town is the old Ingersoll house on tbe Springfield road, about two miles from West- field village and one mile from the location of Westfield's earliest settlement. It is said to have been built by John Ingersoll in 1700,* and is owned by Chandler L. Ingersoll, of New York. The fact that it was built to serve the purposes of a fort accounts for its preservation to this day, for it still continues its service as a habitable residence. It was here that Thomas Ingersoll encountered and routed Greylock, a noted Indian warrior, who was at that juncture about to murder Mrs. Ingersoll.

Among those of Westfield's citizens who lost their lives in the French war of 1755-60, Maj. Noah Ashley, Capt. Jona- than Ingersoll, and Richard Campbell were killed in a fight near Lake George.t

During the prevalence of the small-pox in town in 1777, an order was passed that " if any person should go within half a mile of the pest-house and then come into town, he should be fined £20, and, in default of payment thereof, should be publicly whipped twenty stripes upon the naked back."

In 1782 the town directed its representatives to petition the General Court for a " Lottery" to build a bridge over the Great River, near Weller's Mills. The petition was granted, but not until June 18, 1783.

Incidental to the Shays rebellion of 1786, it is perhaps wortby of remark that Capt. Sackett, of Westfield, took an active part . in the organization of troops on behalf of the insurgents.

About the year 1800, Westfield lost a considerable number of her inhabitants by their removal to the Black River country, in the State of New York. Lowville, in Lewis County,-the centre of the settlement alluded to,-contains to-day many de- scendants of the earliest settlers of Westfield.

Westfield celebrated the bi-centennial of its existence Oct. 6, 1869, on which occasion Hon. William G. Bates, now livingt in Westfield, delivered an interesting historical address, in which he embodied many valuable references to the early his- tory of the town. The celebration was an important and joy- ous event, and its participants included, besides the inhabitants of Westfield, citizens of Southwick, Russell, and Montgomery (which places were formerly portions of Westfield), and many of the former residents of Westfield, then living in near and far-distant States. The day's exercises included a procession, addresses, and singing at the First Church, and a banquet in the open air near the park, where upward of a thousand per- sons partook of a rich feast. The day previous to this celebra- tion, Westfield was visited with a disastrons inundation, caused hy the breaking of the river levee after a heavy rain. The damages occasioned to the town by this flood reached $60,000.

THE FLOOD OF 1878.

Westfield has been visited by no less than four destructive floods since the year 1819,-in the years, to wit, of 1819, 1839, 1869, and 1878,-the latter of which proved the most disas- trous, although those which preceded it are still memorable events in the town annals. The flood of 1878, like the earlier ones, was caused by the breaking away of the dyke on West-

* Daniel Ingersoll also died in 1754, while a soldier in the army, in the begin- ning of the French war.

+ A memorandum in the hands of Major Ingersoll, at the United States Armory, says this house was built by Thomas Ingersoll, Esq., who was a magistrate, and died in 1748.

* November, 1878.

944

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

field River, above Westfield village, brought on by a sudden rise of the river on the night of Tuesday, December 10th, after a heavy fall of snow on the previous Monday, followed on Tuesday by a fall of rain that endured without cessation for more than twelve hours. At ten o'clock on Tuesday night the dyke gave way in several places, and the waters poured in an immense and rapid volume into the village, and, entering by the way of Ellis Street, flooded in a brief space of time to the depth of from three to ten feet the section of Westfield village from School Street to the river and from Elm to Charles Street. The flood marked its destructive course by washing out in some cases to the depth of six feet or more many of the thor- oughfares, undermining buildings, deluging the lower floors of hundreds of dwellings, and utterly demolishing not only outhouses and small structures, but many residences and large factories. Provin's brick block was undermined, and the southern half of it from top to bottom demolished. Steer & Turner's large organ-factory, near the Great River bridge, was so badly shattered that a wind-storm, following on the 3d of January ensuing, leveled the structure to the ground. The Catholic Church was badly damaged, numberless frame dwellings and shops lifted bodily from their foundations and throwu down, sidewalks and fences destroyed on every hand, and ruin generally visited upon that part of the village where the waters held their mad revels.

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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. II, Part 127

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 896

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 896