History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 162

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

USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II > Part 162

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The first deacons of this church in Agawam were Timothy Allyn and Bildad Fowler. Rev. Ralph Perry, of Manchester, Conn., was the second pastor, and was ordained over the church Jan. 3, 1844. He was dismissed, in 1846, in conse- quence of ill-health ; but, having subsequently recovered his health by travel, he was re-installed pastor of the church, Dec. 28, 1847. He remained until Aug. 26, 1874, when he met with a severe accident at the Bridge-Street crossing of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield Railroad, in Spring- field, which has for a long time rendered him helpless. The relations of the pastor had been retained thirty years, when Mr. Perry sent a letter of resignation to the church, March 28, 1875. Rev. George H. Pratt, of Glastonbury, Conn., was in- vited to supply the church, Oct. 1, 1875, and was settled Sept. 27, 1876, and is the present pastor. The church membership is 170,-61 males, 109 females ; Sabbath-school, 80; families connected with the church, 70. The deacons are Reuben De Witt and Charles Lewis Campbell. Superintendent Sabbath- school, Joseph Fisher.

The meeting-house of the Congregationalist Church of Aga- wam was at first a " Parish House, " and was dedicated June 8, 1803. Rev. Dr. Lathrop, of West Springfield, preached the dedication sermon.

Deacon Timothy Allyn gave the Baptists $600 for their interest in the old meeting-house, and this placed its owner- ship in the hands of the Congregationalists. The frame of the body of the house was originally erected by the " Separa- tists" of Suffield, Conn., but was taken down and moved to Agawam. The belfry and steeple were built in 1833. The church was remodeled in 1846 and 1875. The parish has a fund of $4300, the gift of Capt. Timothy Allyn.

L. W. Fisk was born in Wales, Mass., Oct. 25, 1817. In 1820 his father removed to the town of Ludlow, and there the subject of this sketch passed his boyhood. His education was obtained solely in the district school, and he could only attend in the winter season. From his early childhood he was trained to those habits of toil and industry which are common to the homes of New England. He worked upon the farm, and also in the clothing-mill which his father carried on. He was but little more than ten years of age when he com- menced working out in summer, returning home in the winter.

At the age of eighteen his father gave him his time. He then went to Palmer, and commenced work for a hotel at ten dollars a month. Like other hostler boys, he re- ceived some " seales," and at the end of six months was able to place sixty dollars on interest.

He worked at the same employ- ment in Belchertown, Springfield, and Northampton. In Novem- ber, 1839, when the cars com-

Photo. by Moffitt, Springfield.

menced running on the Boston and Albany Railroad, Mr. Fisk was again in Springfield, and drove the first and only hack to the first train ; but competition opened lively, for there were plenty of haeks ready for the second train.

From 1842 to 1850 he continued actively in the haek business, securing a large amount of patron- age, and aeenmulating consider- able property. He was able to purchase productive real-estate. His health failing, he bought, in 1850, a small place in Agawam, and somewhat later the pleasant farm upon which he now resides.

Mr. Fisk has never taken any netive part in politics, but is a strong supporter of the institu- tions of religion, and a useful, consistent member of the church.

His success in life is due largely to industry, honesty, fidelity, and temperanee.

The family of Mr. Fisk con- sists of himself, wife, and three sons. An infant daughter died at the age of six months.

L. W. FISK.

RESIDENCE OF L. W. FISK, AGAWAM, MASS.

1051

HISTORY OF HAMPDEN COUNTY.

A METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

was built in the southern part of the town, near Gallup's Grove, in 1840, by the Conference. Rev. David Taylor, a licentiate, who lived near there, held meetings in this church a few years, but it has been abandoned for several years, ex- cept that the Second Adventists have had occasional meetings.

The Adventists built a small church or chapel on Feeding Hills Plains, in 1878.

THE FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH ( " ST. WILLIAM'S"),

in the Agawam portion of Mitteneague village, was built in 1874, at a cost of $4000. It is a mission of St. Joseph's Church, Springfield, and is under the care of the Rev. L. G. Garnier. This church has a membership of 500, who are mainly Cana- dian-French families employed in the Agawam cotton-mills. The Sabbath-school numbers 49.

BURIAL-PLACES.

The oldest burying-ground in Agawam is in the north part of the town. It was first used by the Indians, and, although the inclosure is not a large one, it is supposed to have been the burial-place of many of the natives. In digging graves their bones are frequently found a foot or two below the ordi- nary depth, and the bodies are all laid with heads toward the east.

The oldest headstones in this cemetery having the names and date of death are :

Mrs. Kezia Cooley, 1742 ; John Leonard, 1744; Lient. Lamberton Cooper, 1755 ; Mrs. Mindful Brown, 1758; Jonathan Bodurtha, 1764; Robert Corfil, 1770 ; Mrs. Capt. Timothy Burbank, 1773; Samuel Merrick, 1778 : Isaac Stiles, 1785; Mrs. Hezekiah Warner, 1785 ; Samuel Leonard, 1786.

The old burying-ground at Feeding Hills, among others, has these inscriptions :

" In Memory of William McIntyre, Esq., Major under General Peperell, at the Reduction of Cape Breton, A.D. 1744; In whose life the Sincere Christian and Brave Soldier eminently appeared."

A low slab has this inseription :

" In Memory of Rev. Jonathan Law Pomeroy, for many years Pastor of the Church in Worthington."

Also stones bearing inscriptions ;

" Rev. Sylvanus Griswold, born in Lyme, Conn., Feb. 14, 1730, ordained 1st Pastor of the Congregational Church in this place, Nov. 17, 1762."

" In Memory of Mr. Joseph Flower, who died Febr ye 20th, A.D. 1769, in the 63d year of his age."

The other cemeteries in town are of recent date and modern in their appearance. They are : one at Agawam Centre, one on the back street, Feeding Hills, and a new one east of Feeding Ilills village.

EARLY ROADS AND TAVERNS.

Many traces of the early roads and turnpikes connecting with the upper and lower fords of the Agawam River are still to be seen. About 1750 there were two principal turn- pikes running north and south through the town,-the Spring- field and Hartford and the Hartford and Northampton roads. The former passed through Agawam Street, and the latter through Feeding Hills, and erossed at the bridge near the northwest corner of the town .*

On the east line were located three taverns, viz., one at the State line, called " White's Tavern ;" Worthington's, at the erossing of the Three-Mile Brook ; and Leonard's, at Agawam Centre. There was also a tavern on the river-road, kept by Ruel Warriner.

On the west thoroughfare were five taverns. The most southerly one was long known as the " Leonard Tavern." The oldest was erected at Feeding Hills about 1750. It stood on the south side of the street running east and west, and was

long kept by Col. Morley. Another one, erected by Col. Samuel Flowers about 1760-61, stood where C. C. Wright now lives. Col. Flowers was a well-known landlord.

A fourth stood about three-fourths of a mile north of the last named, formerly kept by Azariah Lewis. At a later date it was known as the " Cochrane House," and still later was owned by the town, and used as a home for its paupers.

Within a half-mile of the town-line, on the north, stood the " Morley Tavern."

The bridge over the Agawam River, near by, was also known as the " Morley Bridge."

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND SCHOOLS.

Until 1874, town-meetings and all publie assemblages were held in Bodurtha's Hall, or in the school-house at Agawam and Feeding Hills. The question of a town-hall caused con- siderable trouble, as Feeding Hills desired to have it located there, and Agawam District claimed its location at the "centre," until it was finally voted to erect one in each place, to he used for town- and public-meetings, and for the higher grade of the public schools.

Two bandsome brick buildings were built in each place in 1874-75, the one at Agawam costing $15,000, and the one at Feeding Hills $13,000. They are well located, and ornaments to each village. Besides the schools occupying the town-halls, there are school districts with school-houses as follows : Feed- ing Hills Centre; Feeding Hills, East Street ; North Feeding Hills, East Street, south ; Feeding Hills, West Street, north ; Feeding Hills, West Street, south ; Agawam Centre; Agawam, north ; Agawam, south ; Agawam Falls ; and Agawam River. The school statisties show 179 males and 167 females of school age. The town school committee and school visitors are Rev. C. S. Sylvester, Rev. A. H. Simons, and Dr. Cyrus Bell.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

In the first volume of the book of grants of the town of Springfield occurs the following record :

" There is granted unto Samuel Mashfield, Thomas Noble, Thomas Miller, & Elizur Holyoke, upon their desires, liberty for ye setting up of a saw-mill on a brook below Ensign Cooper's Farm, over Agawam River. Also there is granted them about 40 acres of land, where they shall choose it, near the place where the mill shall stand, not predjudicing any of ye Inhabitant's property on the Ilighway. Also there is granted them 30 acres of meadow within 2 or 3 miles of ye place, where they shall find it most convenient for their use, beginning at one end of the meadow and so proceeding till 30 acres are made up. These grants are on condition that they cause a saw-mill to be set up in the place above mentioned, and set to work in sawing by the 1st day of April, which shall be in ye year 1666. And in case the said undertakers, when they have set up such work, shall see cause to desert the work within three years from the said time, they shall yeld up the place and Lands hereby granted into ye hands of ye town, or such in ye town as shall carry on ye work ; Provided these undertakers be paid no charges they shall be at about the work. Also they are not to be Restrained of the Liberty of the Commons for all sorts of Timber for their use for Sawing or otherwise."

This is supposed to have been on the site of the present Farrar Mills on Three-Mile Brook, as Thomas Cooper had grants of land on Three-Mile Brook and its east branch as early as January, 1659, and in 1660.

COTTON- AND WOOLEN-MILLS.

About the year 1810, Thomas Belden, of Ilartford, came to this place and associated in partnership with Amos Ambrose, and Jonathan Worthington, John Norman, and Elijah Porter.

A cotton-mill was built on the site of an old saw-mill in the south part of the town, near the month of the Three-Mile Brook. Yarn was spun and sent out to the women in the neighborhood to weave. They were not very successful, but the mill continued to run at intervals until about 1825, when it was closed for several years.

Leonard & Parmenter, who were running the woolen-mill at Agawam Centre, on the same creek, about 1832, moved down to this place, and manufactured cotton for about two

* These turnpikes were surveyed and laid out under the superintendence of a Commission appointed by the Court of Sessions, about the year 1750, and mile- stones were erected along their courses, some of which are still standing. Earlier roads than these turnpikes had evidently existed, for they are frequently referred to in old deeds. The turnpikes were described by " metes and bounds."

1052

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

years ; but by reason of back-water from the Connecticut River for about two months in the year, they subsequently removed their machinery to Palmer.

The building remained empty until about 1840, when Ly- man Whitman commenced there the manufacture of wall- paper, and continued about ten or twelve years, since which time the building has remained unoccupied. This is said to have been the earliest cotton-mill in Western Massachusetts. About the same time, one was erected in Suffield, Conn.

About 1810-11, or shortly after the building of the cotton- mill spoken of above, Justus and Calvin Bedortha erected a fulling-mill on the site of the present Agawam Company's mills, where they fulled cloth and carded wool-rolls, doing custom- work only. About 1812 they commenced the manufacture of broadcloth, and were successful until the close of the war, when business generally declined. From that time until 1840 the mill passed through many changes. At the last date Nor- ton, Bedortha & Co. purchased it, removed the old building, erected the wooden building,-still in use,-and built up a good custom business; and May 12, 1857, the present Aga- wam Company was organized under the act of Legislature of 1851, with a capital stoek of $10,000. Upon this organization stockinet machinery was introduced, and trade increased until it reached its present proportions.

During the war of the Rebellion the company could not supply the demand, and a factory was purchased at South Hadley to accommodate the increase of business. In 1875 the present brick building was erected. The old building is still standing .*

PAPER-MILLS.

The Worthy Paper Companyt is located on the Agawam River, opposite Mitteneague, and is supplied with power from the dam that supplies the grist-mill on the other side of the river, which stands on the old mill-site of 200 years ago. The company's mill is supplied with 3 turbine water-wheels, having an aggregate of 60 horse-power. They have in their employ 50 hands, use daily 3500 pounds of stock, and manu- facture daily 2800 pounds of paper. Blank-book and writing- paper are manufactured exclusively. The company was organized in 1872 with a capital of $100,000; working capi- tal, $150,000. The present officers are J. L. Worthy, Presi- dent; G. L. Wright, Treasurer ; Isaac B. Lowell, Clerk ; G. L. Wright, Jr., Traveling Agent.

THE AGAWAM DISTILLERY,

located in the south part of the town, was established in 1801, by E. Porter. At first it was used for distilling peppermint ; afterward for manufacturing whisky from potatoes. It is now used for manufacturing gin and malt from rye and corn, and has a capacity of 312 gallons of gin per day. It is con- dueted by llarvey Porter and Albert Adams, under the firm- name of II. Porter & Co.

REMINISCENCES AND INCIDENTS.

Maj. Jesse MeIntire, at Feeding Hills, before the Revolu- tionary war, had a good farm and the only brick house in town. It was about 20 feet square and one and a half stories high. It accommodated a family of 10 persons. The fare of the children was very plain. Sometimes, when the pot had been boiled and the meat taken up, the liquor was thickened with flour for the children's meal. Bean porridge was a com- mon dish. Maj. MeIntire and his wife were accustomed to sit beside each other, and to eat from the same plate at the table. The major was a man of wealth and high position. An anecdote is told of him to show his reputation for truth- fulness : " A man was telling a story to a company where

Rev. Dr. Lathrop was present, when some incredulity was manifested at the recital. ' It is true, every word of it,' said the man ; ' I had it from Maj. Melntire.' ' Yes,' replied Dr. Lathrop, 'but we don't seem to have it dircet from Maj. Mc- Intire,'"-as much as to say, " If it had been told by the major himself, we would believe it."

The plains between Agawam and Feeding Ilills furnished a supply of fat-pine stumps and knots, which served for a light in the great tireplace by which Nathaniel Leonard used to work out his problems in arithmetic, and, under the in- structions of his pious grandmother, learned to read the Bible, which babit he practiced daily in after-life. In those days the sound given to some of the words in reading was as fol- lows : " Shoold for should, shault for shalt, would for would, coold for could," etc. Mr. Leonard was the father of Squire Norman T. Leonard, of Westfield, and a man of learning.

The name of Flower is of French origin, taken from the word " Fleur." Joseph Flower came to this country from England about the year 1700, and settled in Weathersfield, Conn., where he married Sarah, daughter of " Brigadier" Samuel Wright. He removed to Feeding Hills in 1751, with eleven children.

Col. Samuel Flower, the third son and eighth child of Jo- seph, lived on the old homestead, and died here Oct. 28, 1815. He enlisted in the old French war at the age of sixteen, and was distinguished for daring service and narrow escapes. He also enlisted in the Revolutionary war as captain of an ar- tillery company, receiving a commission signed by John Han- cock, President of Congress, which is now in possession of his family descendants .;

He was aid to Gen. Shepard in the Shays rebellion, and in the famous fight on Springfield Hill. It was said that he incurred the intense hatred of the Shays men, who made an attempt to capture him at his home, telling his son " they had a hundred bullets to put into him if he could be found." Ile held many prominent positions in the town of West Springfield [sce history of that town], and was said to be a man of very commanding appearance, and of almost Hlercu- Jean mold.

Deacon Alfred Flower, the third son of Col. Samuel Flower, was born in the town Jan. 6, 1780, and died here Oct. 14, 1873, in the ninety-third year of his age. He married a daughter of Samuel Leonard, and they lived together sixty- three years, the wife dying seven years before her husband. Alfred Flower was prominent in town affairs for many years. Represented West Springfield in the General Court, and set- tled more estates than any man in this vicinity. When the town of Agawam was incorporated he was chosen the first town-elerk. He was the father of Samuel and Alfred Flower, now living.

The Burbanks were quite noted in early days. Abraham Burbank was born in Suffield, Conn., in 1739. He graduated at Yale College at the age of twenty. About the year 1764 he moved to Feeding Hills, purchased a farm of 200 or more acres, and built a house near the Congregational Church, now owned and occupied by Sylvester Johnson, and in a good state of preservation. IJe married for his first wife Bertha Cushing, of Scituate, Mass., who died in 1768, and was buried here. His second wife was Sara Pomeroy, of Northampton, daugh- ter of Col. Seth Pomeroy of Revolutionary fame. Abraham Burbank was a prominent Mason, receiving his certificate from Lodge No. 7, of a New York regiment, in 1762. This certificate, with many other documents belonging to him, is in possession of Ilenry M. Sebmuck, Esq., his great-grandson, now living in West Springfield. One of these documents reads as follows :

" George the Third, By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ire- land, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.

# Probably the commission was signed when John Hancock was Governor of Massachusetts or President of the l'ovincial Congress.

* The present capital of the company is 827,000, and the stockholders are New- bury Norton, Pres .; Henry Kirkham, Treas. ; Norman Norton and James Kirk- ham, Directors ; Roderick Ashley, Ashbel Sykes, Samnel Pyne.

f See view on another page.

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4735

FLOURING MILL

1053

HISTORY OF HAMPDEN COUNTY.

" Know ye. That we have assigned and constituted, and do by these presents assign, constitute, and appoint Our Trusty and Well Beloved Abraham Burbank, Esquire, to be one of our Justices to keep our Peace."

He was afterward commissioned as justice of the Superior Court by Gov. John Hancock.

Roland, son of Abrahamn Burbank, was born June 15, 1772. He had two wives, Sophia Coit and Henrietta Palmer, who both lie buried in the old Feeding Ilills Cemetery. Ile was justice of the peace several years, and was a leading man in town affairs. Sara Burbank, daughter of Abraham, born Feb. 1, 1778, married Daniel Moore, of Hartford, Conn., and died there Dec. 25, 1868. Some of her descendants now live in West Springfield. George, son of Rowland Burbank, now lives in Cambridge, Mass.

The name of Leonard has been conspicuous from the early settlement of the town. One of the first was John, who had 14 children, the first of whom, Benjamin, was born in Spring- field in 1641. Thaddeus Leonard lived in Agawam district, but most of the others of the name-Justin, Phineas, Elias, Rufus, Asaph, Reuben, and Apollos-resided in Feeding Hills district. Asaph lived to a great age, and was remembered in his last days as having an enthusiastic fondness for seine fishing.

Squire Leonard, of Westfield, from whom the above facts are recorded, relates an anecdote of a man by the name of Leonard, of Agawam: " A neighbor applied to him for a horse to make a journey. He made no direct reply. Three or four days after, meeting the applicant, he said : ' Ilorse ! yes ! Well, I don't care if you do take him.'" To which the reply was, " Mr. Leonard, I have been to Hartford and got back last night."

Justin Granger was regarded as a good musician for early times. He had a great fondness for music, a pleasant voice, and was to some extent a composer of music. A piece written by him, called " Repentance," was sung by the choir.

Dr. Timothy Horton, whose father was a physician before him, was a practitioner of considerable ability, and had a good reputation as a physician and as a public man. He was noted for the extremely small charges he made for his medical services. His regular fee in Agawam was 123 cents per visit, rarely ever charging over 2s., no matter how difficult the case or the distance traveled. He was frequently known to go a distance of four or five miles, spending considerable time in holding a consultation with some brother-doctor, and charging for his fee 1s.

Dr. Cyrus Bell has for many years been the leading resident physician in Agawam. He settled in the parish of Feeding Hills in 1840, and has held various offices in the town and in the Congregational Church at Feeding Hills.

Dr. Edward G. Ufford is now located at Agawam Cen- tre. He was for many years a practitioner at West Spring- field.

Agawam points with pride to the fact that Hon. Benjamin F. Wade and Hon. Edward Wade, his brother, were natives of the town. They were born in what is known as " Shoe- makers' Lane," near Feeding Hills, on the road southeast toward Col. Wolcott's. Their father, James Wade, was a native of Medford, Mass., born July, 1750; died at Feeding Hills, May, 1826. His wife was the daughter of Rev. Edward Upham. Their children, all born in Feeding Hills, were

Martha, Nancy, Mary, James, Sidney, Theodore, Charles, Benjamin Franklin, and Edward. The father was a shoe- maker and a common soldier in the Revolution; was at the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, and was confined for a long time a prisoner at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ile removed with his family to Ohio, when' it was a wilderness, in 1821, traveling, as was the eustom for the emigrants of those times, with an ox-team and covered wagon. Benjamin F. and Ed- ward claimed to have walked the entire distance, nearly one thousand miles. They settled on what was known as the " Western Reserve," in the town of Andover, Ashtabula Co.

The two sons referred to were " self-made" men as far as education was concerned. Both taught school and studied law, paying their own way in obtaining an education. Ben- jamin F. practiced law at Jefferson, the county-seat of Ash- tabula ; was admitted to the Bar in 1828; was elected a mem- ber of the Ohio Senate in 1837, and was chosen presiding judge of the third judicial district in that State in 1847. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1851, and held that office twenty-eight years ; was made president of the Senate in 1867. In the Senate he was always known as an Aboli- tionist, the champion of freedom and civil rights, a terror to Southern " Fire-eaters ' on account of his resolute character and inflexible fidelity to the canse of liberty. His name was frequently mentioned in connection with the Presidency. In the early days of the Rebellion he was appointed chairman of the joint committee on the conduct of the war. During his last days he was United States attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Ile died at his home in Jefferson, March 2, 1878.

Edward settled in Cleveland, where he was a leading mem- ber of the Bar, and was identified with various improvements of that city, particularly in connection with the " Wade Al- lotments and Wade Avenue." He was a member of Congress for several years, and one of the committee on commerce from 1853 to 1861. He died at Cleveland in 1866. James settled in Watervliet, N. Y. He was a physician and had an extensive practice. His death occurred in 1868. Theodore, Charles, and Sidney became successful farmers in Ashtabula County, Ohio.

General Washington passed through Agawam twice, first in 1775, from Hartford to Boston, riding in a coach and four, under escort, fording the Agawam River near where stands the Agawam bridge, and again in 1789. An extract from his diary shows a favorable impression of the town and meadows. Burgoyne's army, after their surrender, passed through the town, and, as is well known, some of the stragglers fell out by the way and became the ancestors of some of our best citizens.

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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 162

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