History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 180

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 180

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).

ORGANIZATION.

Tolland is one of the newest towns in Massachusetts, and dates its existence back only to the year 1810. June 14thi of that year it was incorporated as a town, after having been set off from the town of Granville, of which the traet had always been a part. To the date of its incorporation it was known as West Granville, or the third parish of that town. In addition to the tract taken from Granville, a section was also taken from the eastern part of Sandisfield, in Berkshire County. The petition for incorporation was presented to the General Court in 1810, by William Twining, a resident in West Granville village (afterward Tolland), and one of Gran- ville's representatives at the court that year.

Much that is valuable and interesting in the history of Tol- land has been lost to posterity through the destruction by fire at Northampton of the town records covering the period be- tween the years of 1810 and 1849. The list of the persons who have served the town as selectmen and town-elerks, given below, dates, therefore, from 1849.

SELECTMEN.

1849 .- Lucien Hotchkiss, N. E. Slocum, Hiram C. Brown. 1850 .- Wm. E. Barnes, Noalı B. Nye, Nathan E. Slocum. I851 .- Daniel Spring, Noalı B. Nye, Edward L. Tinker. 1852 .- George W. Granger, Oliver E Slocum, Fowler T. Moore. 1853 .- Fowler T. Moore, Leonard Cowles, William Tinker. 1854 .- Fowler T. Moore, O. E. Slocum, Amos L. Hull. 1855 .- George W. Granger, Noah B. Nye, Lyman Twining. 1856 .- Lyman Twining, Noah B. Nye, Elward L. Tinker. 1857 .- Rufus Smith, Lyman Twining, Philander F. Twining. 1858 .- P. F. Twining, Hiram C. Brown, Sammel Hamilton, Jr. 1859 .- P. F. Twining, Samuel Hamilton, Daniel Spring. ISGO .- Philander F. Twining, Samnel Hamilton, George W. Granger. 1861 .- Philander F. Twining, Daniel Spring, Edward L. Tinker, Jr. 1862 .- Hiram C. Brown, Lyman Twining, George W. Granger. 1×63-64 .- Philander F. Twining, Lyman Twining, George W. Granger. 1865 .- George W. Granger, Philander F. Twining, N. E. Slocum. 1866 .- George W. Granger, Philander F. Twining, Samuel C. Marshall. 1867 .- George W. Granger, Noah B. Nye, Nelson B. Twining. 1868 .- George W. Granger, N. B. Twining, Samuel C. Marshall. 1869 .- N. B. Twining, Samuel C. Marshall, Charles N. Marshall. 1870-71 .- Lafayette Granger, Julius P. Ilali, George L. Marshall. 1872-73 .- Nelson B. Twining, George L. Marshall, F. S. ITale. 1874 .- George W. Granger, S. C. Marshall, W. F. IIale. 1875 .- Fowler T. Moore, S. C. Marshall, E. D. Larkin. 1876-77 .- George W. Granger, N. B. Twining, Wellington Hale. 1878 .- George L. Marshall, Julius P. Hall, Fowler T. Moore.

TOWN CLERKS.

Rufus Smith, 1849; Wm. W. Harrison, 1850-55 ; Samuel Hamilton, Jr., 1855- GI; Rufus Smith, 1861; Samuel Hamilton, 1862; William Il. Harrison, 1863-73 ; F. R. Moore, 1873-76; H. P. Twining, I876-79.

VILLAGES.

The seat of town government is at TOLLAND CENTRE, which, although a small settlement of perhaps a seore of dwellings, is a neatly-kept and pleasantly-located village. It occupies the highest elevation in the town, and commands a broad and charming view of a vast stretch of surrounding country. There is a post-office at the village, but no store, the town-hall, and a church,-the only one in the town.

CHURCHIES.

The only church in the town is the Congregational Church at Tolland Centre. The organization of this church dates back to 1795, when what is now Tolland was yet known as West Granville. In that year, or the year following, a church structure was erected near where the present edifice stands, but there was no regularly settled pastor until in Jan- uary, 1798, when Rev. Roger Harrison was ordained. Be- sides fulfilling the office of pastor, Mr. Harrison served the

towns of Granville and Tolland in various offices of public trust. His pastorate continued from 1798 to 1822, when he was dismissed. He continued, however, to reside in Tolland until his death, in 1853, at the age of eighty-four. During Mr. Harrison's ministry Gordon Hall, who was born in 1784, in what is now Tolland, made a profession of religion as a member of Mr. Harrison's church, and shortly thereafter entered college, whence he went to India as an American missionary. He became distinguished in the missionary field, and at the time of his death, which occurred in Bombay in 1826, he was somewhat noted as an author.

After Mr. Harrison's retirement, the church depended for upward of twenty years-until 1843-upon supplies. In that year Rev. Alonzo Sanderson was ordained, and continued to be the pastor until 1852, after which there was no settled pastor until 1853, when Rev. Franklin D. Austin was called to the charge. The old church building stood until 1842, when it was replaced by the present edifice. Rev. David Ogden is the pastor now in charge (1879). The church mem- bership, which numbers about 75, includes several persons resident in adjacent towns.

There is in the " south quarter" a Baptist society; which was organized in 1830, but it has never owned a church build- ing, nor has it enjoyed regular worship. Services are occa- sionally held in the dwellings of the members, as convenience serves.

SCHOOLS.

The history of education in Tolland presents no features of peculiar interest, and since the early records of the town are not in existence, many incidents connected with the progress of the schools of Tolland must remain unwritten. The scho- lastic advantages possessed by the inhabitants have been nat- urally limited in their scope to the possession of conimon district schools, and this may indeed be told as well of the generality of towns in Western Massachusetts occupying the standard of population and wealth vouchsafed to Tolland. The town has, however, contributed many students to Ameri- can colleges, and of these mention could be made of not a few who have graduated with conspicuous honors.

Eight seliool districts, in 1879, contributed to make schools easy of access to all, while for the support thereof the town was called upon to dispense but the nominal sum of $275 for the year.

BURIAL-PLACES.

There are three public graveyards in the town, but only one of them-located abont a mile east of Tolland Centre- lays any claim to early origin. It is, moreover, grossly neg- lected, and within its limits there are scarcely a dozen erect headstones. The rest are either broken or fallen to the earth, while rank weeds overrunning the inclosure make it an un- sightly spot. There are many old stones whose inscriptions have been utterly etlaced by time. Of others, inscriptions have been transcribed as follows :

Jesse, son of Recompense Miller, died in 1777; Joseph Whitney, 1783, aged sixty- nine; Lucy, wife of Peter Miller, 1776; Abraham, Jr., son of Abraham Granger, 1789; Alexander, son of the same, 1798; Hannah, wife of Elezer Slocum, 1798 ; Rebecca, wife of Thomas Hamilton, 1801 ; Titus Fowler, 1827, agel eighty-eight; Sarah, wife of George Bidwell, 180E; Allen, son of Isaac Allen, 1804; Heury Hamilton, 1817, aged seventy-four.

INDUSTRIES.

The industries of Tolland are limited. The soil is generally poor, and, beyond the article of bay, does not yield sufficient to supply the wants of the farmers, who are annually forced to purchase grain in Westfield. Tobacco was, some years ago, raised to a considerable extent, but of that commodity very little is produced now. Generally the farmers devote their energies to the raising of stock and the manufacture of butter and cheese in a small way, the region affording good grazing facilities. There is a small tannery on the Farmington River, owned by Albert llull, and a small bedstead-factory in the

1108

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.,

north, operated by Charles N. Marshall, both establishments being run by water-power. The distance from the nearest market is about fourteen miles. The town has a post-office, but not a single store within its limits.

The total assessed valuation of the town in 1875 was $267,- 330, on which the tax was $4410, or at the rate of 163 mills on the dollar. This onerons tax is due largely to the fact that some years ago the town issned $25,000 in bonds in aid of the projected Lee and New Haven Railroad, which, after being graded as far as Tolland, was abandoned for lack of funds, and still remains in that unfinished condition, the company L. Vaill Virgil, 27th Mass. Banker Henry, 27th Mase. John W Moore, 27th Mass. Charles 11. Pratt, 27th Mass. Lafayette Babb, 27th Mass. HI. W. Chat field, 27th Mass. Michael Horrigan, 27th Mass. Lutber P. Vaill, 27th Mass. John F. Webber, 27th Mass. George M. Hale, 27th Mass. Lyman Marshall, 27th Mass. William C. Sonle, 27th Mass. - G. A. Wright, 27th Mass. George Frost, 27th Mass.

having forfeited its charter. Some day it is likely to be pushed to completion, and on that hope the Tolland people base their expectations of future increased prosperity. The dwelling-houses in the town number about 110, and the farms 105.

TOLLAND'S WAR RECORD.

Tolland was not in sympathy with the declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812, and sent Eleazer Slocomb as a delegate to the anti-war convention at Northampton.

For the war of the Rebellion the town furnished soldiers as follows :

Thomas Butler, 2d Cav. James Webb, 2d Cav.

D. A. Wallace, 2d Cav.

Nicholas Lee, 2d Cav.

Charles 11. Vail], 46th Mass.

A. II. Ashley, 244 Cav. George HI. Lewis, 27th Mass. Frank Ihbbert, 27th Mass.

Nelson larger, 46th Mass. Joseph Miller, 46th Mass.

F. T. Donglass, 4th Mich. E. W. Evans, 4th Mich. Ingh Dolan, 21 11. Art.

G. II. Mclellan, 2d II. Art.

M. E. Perry, 27th Mass.

Of the above, twelve lost their lives in the

service.

HAMPDEN.

GEOGRAPHICAL.

THIS last addition to the towns of Hampden County is located southeast of the centre, and is bounded on the north by Wilbraham, on the east by Monson, on the west by Long- meadow and Springfield, all in the same county, and on the south by the towns of Somers and Stafford, in Connecticut. It contains about 11,281 acres of land.

NATURAL FEATURES.

The physical aspects of the town are more rugged than those of Wilbraham. The centre of the town, from north to south, comprising an area of about two. miles in width, is thickly studded with lofty hills, which are frequently called mountains. Mount Vision, formerly known as Rattlesnake Peak, marks the northern limit of this range in the town, and affords, from its summit, an extensive view of the surround- ing country. Pine Mountain and Bald Mountain are names given to two neighboring elevations in the southeast part of the town.

Scantic Brook, a stream of considerable size and an affluent of the Connecticut River, which it enters at East Windsor, in the State of Connecticut, rises in the southeastern corner of the town, passes in a north westerly direction to its centre, and then takes a southwesterly course down into Connecticut. The water-power furnished by this stream is excellent, and the earliest manufacturing enterprises of the old town of Wilbraham were undertaken on the Seantic. Three impor- tant affluents, called variously First, Second, and Third Brooks, or East, West, and Middle (or Big) Brooks, flow into the Scantic from the north, near the centre of the town, and smaller streams enter it in other parts of the town.

The soil of the town is good, and renders rich returns to its industrious inhabitants. The largest number of farms lie in the eastern and southeastern sections of the town, where the surface is more level and uniform, but west and southwest of the main road from Wilbraham the land is good, and many productive farms are successfully tilled. The mineral and

geological features of the town are not of special importance, but correspond with the general description elsewhere detailed.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

The settlement of Hampden did not commence so early as that of Wilbraham. Prior to 1741 there was not a settler within the present limits of the town. South of a line drawn due east and west across the old town, on the south side of the Cross farin, there was not a house or cultivated field.

In the spring of 1741, Stephen Stebbins came from Long- meadow and settled on the north bank of the Scantie, where Orville Pease afterward resided. The house which he built was removed over sixty years ago, and was used for a barn on the John McCray place. Aaron Stebbins, a brother, settled soon after a few rods north, where Rev. Mr. Rockwood since resided. Lewis Langdon settled on the corner, between them, and built the first saw-mill in town, in 1750. Abner Chapin, from Chicopee, occupied the first lot south of the Seantic, where his descendants have since resided. Lieut. Paul Lang- don, who brought the first four-wheeled wagon into the place, in which he moved his worldly goods and family,-first from Salem, then from Hopkinton, and lastly from Union,-settled near the Potash Hill.

On the east side of the mountain was William King, a large land-owner, whose house was directly in front of the present Congregational Church. William Stacy, from Salem, settled where Gilbert Stacy afterward resided ; Moses Stebbins, where Mrs. Beriah Smith afterward lived ; Comfort Chaffee, who came from Wales, settled between them, where William P. Chaffee, his great-grandson, afterward resided. In the east, on the Scantic, were Henry Badger, from Union ; Isaac Mor- ris, from Woodstock ; Benjamin Skinner and Jabez Hendrick settled on the Ifiram Hendrick place; Daniel Carpenter, on the Carpenter farm ; Ezekiel Russell, on Albert Beebe's farm ; and Rowland Crocker, a little above. The Sessions family, since so prominent and influential in the town, came from Pomfret, Conn., and located in 1781.

1 Leonard Frost, 27th Mass. 11. W. Sonle, 34th Mass. F. C. Hays, 34th Mass. D. W. Stow, 46th Mass.

Henry Munn, 46th Mass. L. M Mann, 46th Mass. Thomas Hays, 34th Mass. Seymour llowe, 46th Mass. Mozart Perry, 46th Mass. Robert Harvey, 46th Mass.

Giles Spring, 49th Mass.

SUMNER SESSIONS.

This gentleman was born Dec. 29, 1797, in the south parish of Wilbrahami, Mass., now the town of Ilampden.

His father, Robert Sessions, was born in Pomfret, Conn., March 15, 1752, was married to Anna Ruggles (also of Pom- fret) in 1778, and removed to Wilbraham about the year 1781. lle was one of the original " Boston Tea-Party," of patriotic memory, and assisted in throwing the tea overboard. Ile was then a young man, employed in a store in Boston. Heserved in the Continental army, rising to the rank of lieutenant, and was once a bearer of verbal information to Gen. Washington.

Amasa Sessions, grandfather of Sumner, was a son of Nathaniel Sessions, who was born in Andover, Mass,, and settled in Pomfret in 1704. He was the son of Alex- ander Sessions, the first of the name to come from England.

Darius, son of Nathaniel, and uncle to Robert Sessions, was deputy governor of Rhode Island at the beginning of the RevoIntion. The historian Bancroft says of him: "That, in the burning of the Gaspée" (an affair like the " Boston Ten- Party"), "Darins Sessions and Stephen Hopkins were the two pillars on which the liberty of Rhode Island depended."

Sumner Sessions was the sixth son, and eleventh child, of a family of thirteen children. One died in infancy, two died at the age of thirty years, and the others lived to advanced age. Francis left one son,-F. C. Sessions, now living at Colum- bus, Ohio. Horace graduated at Ilamilton College and Andover Theological Semin- ary, and was afterward ordained as an evangelist, and weot to Liberia, Africa, as an agent of the Colonization Society, to aid in the establishment of a colony of colored emigrants from the New England States. lle took the first printing-press to that country, and died at sea, on his return trip home, March 4, 1826, of fever con- tracted in Africa.

Robert, Jr., lived and died in Wilbra- bam; was an active member of the Meth- odist Church, and was drafted into the Stats

1.1

Photo, by Moffitt.

SUMNER SESSIONS.

militia in the war of 1812, His soo, H. M. Sessions, now resides on his father's farm. Another brother went to Michigan, and a sister to Ohio, when those States were considered the Far West. One other brother and three sisters passed their lives in Wilbraham. But one brother and gister are now living,-William V. Ses- sions, whose biography appears elsewhere in this work, and Mrs. Cyrue Newell, of Longmeadow, Mass., now in her ninetieth year,

Mr. Sessions has passed the greater part of his life in the pursuit of agriculture, having lived for forty-six years npon the farm which he now occupies. Having a mill privilege, he erected, and owned for a number of years, the oldest woolen-fac- tory in Wilbraham.

ITe joined the Congregational Church In 1821, and two years later was chosen deacon, an office which he still holds. lle has ever manifested the utmost fidelity to the interests of religion, and lins been a staunch supporter of the lienevolent and missionary enterprises of his day. He early identified himself with the cause of the oppressed, assisting in the organization of the Anti-Slavery Society of Wilbraham nearly fifty years ago, He also assisted in the organization of the Temperance Soci- cty about the same time, and has system- atically abstained from the use of all in- toxicating beverages, He has never held any important public office, but always manifested an interest in public affairs and in the welfare of the country.

In the year 1826, Mr. Sessions was united in marriage with Mary Wood, of Wilbra- ham, who died April 1, 1845. The fruits of the union were four children,-thres daughters and a son. Of the daughters, the second, Harriet E., graduated at Mount Holyoke Seminary, in the year 1856, and is now a teacher in the same institution ; the other two, Mary E. and Frances E., reside with their father. The only son, Edward Payson, the youngest of the fam- ily, died at the age of seven years.

Mr. Sessions married for his second wife, in the year 1846, Martha M1. Saxton, of Wilbraham, who died Sept. 1, 1850.

RESIDENCE OF SUMNER SESSIONS, HAMPDEN, MASS.

Win. V Signons

The Sessions family traces its origin back to the shores of England, and was first planted in this country by Alexander Sessions, the great- great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Fuller details re- garding the genealogy and descent of the family will be found in the biography of Summer Sessions, in this werk.

Robert Sessions, the father of Wm. V. Sessions, after an honorable service in fighting for the liberties of his country in the Continental army, removed iu 1781 to the south parish of Wilbraham, now the town of Ilampden. He located upon the farm new occupied by Wm. V. Sessions, and a long life of active, systematic labor spent upon it made it one of the best in the town. Hc occupied a prominent place in society, filling many offices of trust and responsibllity. He was a justice of the peace for many years, town clerk and treasurer for twelve years, selectman and assessor for a long term of years, and was almost uniformly chosen as moderator of town meetings. Ile represented the town of Wilbraham in the State Legislature for five years, and died in 1836, at the age of eighty-four. Two of bis older sons served in the army in the war of 1812.

William V. Sessions, the subject of this sketch, was born in Wil- braham (now Hampden), Mass., upon the farm where he now lives, on Sept. 14, 1801. IJe was the youngest of a family of thirteen children, all but one of whom attained mature years. His early life was passed upon his father's farm, and in attendance upon the common schools of his day. Upon the death of his father he became the owner of the farm upon which he was born, and has resided there uninterruptedly since, making the pursuit of agriculture a life-long study, and by careful and judicious management reaping rich returns from Mother Earth for his fidelity to her requirements. The golden rule that leads to success in farming enterprises he conceives to be the judicious reinvestment of the profits of farming upon the farm itself, a rule that has been followed by the most successful agricultur- ists of the day. While farming has been the principal occupation of Mr. Sessions, he has yet found time to devote his attention to other pursuits which be deemed to the material welfare of his native town. For several years he, in company with Samuel Beebe and others, cn- gaged in the manufacture of woolen goods, in the first woolen-mill erected in the town (that by Sumner Sessions, his brother); but the enterprise did not meet with financial success. Mr. Sessions not only succeeded to his father's place as a successful farmer, but also in the relation that he sustained to society in general, and the place that he occupied in the community in which he lived. Throughout a long, active, and laborious life he has filled many stations of honor and responsibility with singular fidelity, integrity, and skill. He has been selectman, assessor, and justice of the peace for many

years, has represented his town in the General Court, and for three years filled the office of county commissioner. In the affairs of social life his services have also met with great demand and high appreci- ation. Ile has frequently acted as executor of the wills, and adminis- trator upon the estates, of his deceased townsmen, and has been the custodian of the funds of many of their widows and orphan children. Though thus burdened with private responsibilities of great moment, ne one has ever suffered the loss of a single dollar through his in- competency or corruptness. He has been ever identified with the religions and benevolent enterprises of his day, a consistent member of the Congregational Church since his twenty-first year, and now holds the office of deacon of that church.

On Nov. 26, 1829, Mr. Sessions married Lydia Ames, of East Windsor, Conn., by whom four children have been borne to him, three daughters and one son. Two of the daughters died in childhood. Lydia A., the other daughter, was educated at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, and, after teaching there several years, became the first principal of the Painesville (Ohio) Female Seminary. She retained this position for seven years, establishing the institution upon a firm basis, and receiving the grateful thanks of its founders and patrons. This daughter was united in marriage, in 1871, with Rev. W. W. Woodworth, pastor of the Congregational Church at Berlin, Conn.

William Robert Sessions, the son, since attaining his majority, has been engaged in agricultural enterprises with his father, and under his management the farm has been much improved, stock-raising en- couraged, and a fine barn, forty-four by one hundred fect, and three stories high, erected. The firm of Wm. V. & Wm. R. Sessions has paid special attention to the careful breeding of thoroughbred short-horned cattle for purposes of butter-making. Their cattle have attained great celebrity, and are widely known in the Northern and Western States, and greatly sought after in those sections, large numbers having been disposed of there. Since the increase of years has granted his father some respite from his cares, the son has assumed them, and with great success. Ile was a selectman of the town of Wilbraham most of the time for the past twelve years, and is now chairman of the board of selectmen of the new town of IJampden. He has also represented the town in the Legislature. He served in the Union army in the suppression of the late Rebellion, and experienced the horrors of prison-life in Libby Prison. Following the example of his grandfather, he has acted as moderator of town-meetings every year since the late war save one, when he was absent in the Legislature. Thus is the third generation of this active and useful family still aiming to promote the welfare of its native town, and adding wisdom to its councils.

1109

HISTORY OF HAMPDEN COUNTY.

The first road laid out in this town was from "Third Brook," so called, near Miss Experience Stebbins', running easterly and southerly through the southeast part of the town to Wales. A part of the way it was in the "Old Path."* Paul Langdon was surveyor. The early roads varied in width from 1 to 3 rods. A fuller reference to them will he found in the history of Wilbraham.

Among the early taverns that have been kept in the town may be mentioned one by William Wood, where Mr. Root now lives, about 1810. A man named Tillotson built a house opposite Mr. Root's, and kept hotel for a few years, the first part of the present century. It was afterward kept by Levi Flint, Dudley B. Post, and others. Rudolphus Chaffee kept tavern in both houses a number of years. John MeCray also kept tavern for ten or twelve years on the corner where the Allen house, the only hotel in the town, now stands.

William Clark kept a store at the centre the carly part of this century. Edward Morris eame next, then Levi Flint for a number of years. Dudley B. Post was in trade about 1822. A man named Parsons succeeded Flint for a short time. Gordon B. Sexton followed next. Bugbee & Co. traded at the centre, in the long building, now the Congregational par- sonage, about 1835.

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. II, Part 180

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