History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 42

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 42

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The petition was answered and granted by the General Court as follows :

" T'oted that the prayer thereof be so fur granted as that the petitioners have leave by a surveyor and chainman upon oath to lay out a township of the con- tents of six miles square, to the northward of the town of Deerfield, in the un- appropriated lands of the Province, and return a plat thereof to this Court for confirmation within twelve months, and that the said township is hereby granted to the petitioners and such other officers and soldiers that were in said fight nbove Deerfield, commonly called the Falls Fight, and to the descendants of any of the officers and soldiers that were in said fight and are deceased, that shall be admitted by the committee hereafter named :

" Provided the grantees do within four years settle sixty families in said town- ship, and have each of them a house rightven feet square, and five acres brought to English grass, or broken up by plowing, and also build a convenient meeting- house, and settle a learned orthodox minister among them, laying out a home- Jut for the first settled minister, and another for the ministry, each of which to draw a seventieth part of sail township; also a lot for the school, of one hun- dred acres, the remainder to be divided into equal parts among those that are admitted, and that John Stoddard, Joseph Dwight, Charles Church, and Samuel Danforth, Esqrs., with such as shall be appointed by the Honorable Board, be a committee to receive the claims of all such as shall challenge by this grant, nnd arc empowered and required to admit all such officers and soldiers as shall within twelve months from this time put in their claims and give a satisfactory account of their being in the fight, and shall also admit one, and ouly one, of the descendants of each of the officers and soldiers that were killed in said fight, or since deceased, provided they put in their claims and make their challenge within twelve months as aforesaid. And the committee are further directed always to give preference to the oldest of the sons of euch officer and soldier, de- ceased, that shall pat in their claime, and in case no son does put in his claim within twelve months, then to give preference to the oldest male descendant from any such officer or suldier, deceased, that shall pint in their claims as afore- sail, and all others shall be excluded."

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

Thursday, Nov. 28, 1734 .- The committee appointed by the General Court to ascertain the names of the claimants under the grant reported the following :

" Joseph Atherton, of Deerfield, only son of Hope Atherton; Nathaniel Al- exander, of Northampton, son of Nathaniel Alexander; Thomas Alvard, Mid- dleton, ellest son of Thomas Alvard; John Arms, Deerfield, som of William Arms: John Baker, Northampton, son of Timothy Baker ; Samuel Bedortha, Springfield, son of Samuel Bedortha; John Field, Deerfield, descendant of James Beunet; John Barber, Springfield, son of John Barber; John Bradshaw, Medford, son of John Bradshaw ; Isaac Burnap, Windham, son of John Burnap; Sanmiel (lesson, Northampton, descendant of Peter Bushrod ; Samuel Roltwood, Hadley, son of Samuel Boltwood; Samuel Bardwell, Deerfield, son of Robert - Bardwell; John Hitchcock, Springfield, desrendant of Sammel Ball ; Stephen Belden, Hathell, son of Stephen Belden ; Richard Beers, Watertown, son of El- nathan Beers; Samnel Beldin, Hatfield, son of Sammuel Boldin; Preserved (lapp, Northampton, son of Preserved Clapp; Thomas Chapin, Springfield, son of Japhet Chapin; Sammel Crow, Hadley, son of Samuel Crow ; Joseph Crow- foot, Wethersfieldl, descendant of Joseph Crow foot; Wm. Clark, Lebanon, son of Wm. Clark; Noah Cook, Hadley, descendant of Noah Commman; Benjamin Chamberlain, Colchester, son of Benjamin Chamberlain : Nathaniel Camber- lain, descendant of Joseph Chamberlain; Sanmel Cuniball, Boston, son of John Cuniball; John Chase, New bury, son of John Chase ; William Dickeson, Hadley, son of Nehemiah Dickeson ; Samuel Jellet, Hatfield, descendant of John Dickeson; Benjamin Edwards, Northampton, son of Benjamin Edwards; Joseph Fuller, Newtown, son of Joseph Fuller; Sanmel Field, Deerfield, son of Samuel Field; Nathaniel Foot, Colchester, son of Nathaniel Foot ; John Flan- ders, Kingston, son of Julin Flanders ; Isaac Gleason, Enfiekl, son of Isaac Glea- son ; Richard Church, Hadley, descendant of Isaac Harrison; Simon Grover, Mahlen, son of Simon Grover; Samuel Griffin, Roxbury, son of Joseph Griffin ; John Hitchcock, Springfield, son of John Hitchcock ; Luke Hitchcock, Spring- field, son of Luke Hitchcock; Jonathan Hoit, Deerfield, son of David Hvit; Jonathan Scott, Waterbury, descendant of John Hawks: Eleazer Hawks, Deer- field, son of Eleazer Hawks; James Harwood, Concord, son of James Harwood ; John Dond, Middleton, descendant of Experience Hlindal ; Samuel Hunt, Tewks- bury, son of Samnel Hunt; Win. JJames, Lebanon, son of Abell James; John Ingram, Hadley, son of John Ingram ; Sanmel Jellet, Hatfield, son of Sammel Jellet ; Win. Jones, Almsbury, son of Robert Jones ; Medad King, Northamp- ton, son of John King ; Francis Keet, Northampton, son of Francis Keet ; Mar- tin Kellogg, Suffield, son of Joseph Kellogg; John Lee, Westfield, son of Jolin Lee ; John Lyman, Northampton, son of John Lyman; Joseph Leeds, Dorches- ter, son of Joseph Leeds ; Josiah Leonard, Springfield, son of Josiah Leonard; John Merry, Long Island, son of Cornelius Merry : Stephen Noble, formerly of Enfield, descendant of Isaac Morgan; Jonathan Morgan, Springfield, son of Jonathan Morgan ; Thomas Miller, Springfield, son of Thomas Miller; James Mno, Colchester, son of James Mun; Benjamin Mun, Deerfield, son of John Mun; John Mattoon, Wallingford, son of Philip Mattoon; Jolin Nimis, Deer- field, son of Godfrey Nimis; Ebenezer Pumroy, Northampton, son of Medad Pumroy ; Samuel Pumroy, N. Il., son of Caleb Pmuroy ; Samuel Price, Glasten- bury, son of Robert Price; Samuel Preston, Hadley, descendant of John Pres- ton ; Thomas Pratt, Maklen, son of John P'ratt ; John Pressey, Almishry, son of John Pressey ; Henry Rogers, Springfield, son of Henry Rogers; John Read, Westford, son of Thomas Reed; Nathaniel Sikes, Springfiehl, son of Nathaniel Sikes; Nathaniel Sutliff, Durham, son of Nathaniel Sutliff: Samnel Stebbins. Springfield, son of Samnel Stebbins; Luke Noble, Westfield, descendant of Thos. Stebbins; Ebenezer Smead, Deerfield, son of William Smead; Joseph Smith, Hatfield, son of John Smith; James Stephenson, Springfield, son of James Stephenson ; Thomas Seldon, Haddam, son of Joseph Seldon ; Josiah Scott, Ilat- field, son of Wm. Scott; John Salter, Charlestown, son of Jolin Salter; Wm. Turner, Swanzey, grandson of Capt. Turner; Benjamin Thomas, Strafford, son of Benjamin Thomas; Joseph Winchell, Jr., Suthield, descendant of Jonathan · Tailer; Samuel Tyley, Boston, son of Sammel Tyley ; Preserved Wright, N. H., son of James Wright ; Cornelius Welib, Springfield, son of John Webb; Jona- than Wel'b, Stamford, sou of Richard Webb; John Wait, Hatfield, son of Ben- jamin Wait; Eleazer Weller, Westfield, son of Eleazer Weller; Thomas Wells, Deerfield, son of Thomas Wells; Ebenezer Warriner, Enfield, son of Joseph Warriner; Jonathan Wells, Deerfield, son of Jonathan Wells; Wm. Worthing- ton, Colchester, son of Nicholas Worthington ; John Scott, Elbows, grandson of John Scott ; Samnel Colby, Almsbury ; Irgal Newberry, Malden."

The report was made in June, 1735, and, being accepted by the court, the grant was finally confirmed, Jan. 21, 1736. January 27th, of the same year, the proprietors held their first meeting at the house of Benjamin Stebbins, in North- ampton, and chose Ebenezer Pomeroy moderator, and propri- etors' clerk as well. A committee was appointed to survey the traet, and at the next meeting, in October, 1786, it was agreed to lay it out in fifty-acre home-lots, save the meadow- lands on Fall River, which were to be laid out in five-acre lots. The traet included the present towns of Bernardston and Leyden, and a portion of the town of Coleraine, and, according to the grant, was of the contents of about six miles square. The place was at first called Falls Fight township, and this name it retained until Oct. 22, 1741, when the name

of Falltown was substituted, and as such it was known until the incorporation of Bernardston, in 1762.

In October, 1736, the proprietors petitioned the General Court for an additional grant of land, on the plea that the grantees of Falls Fight township were more numerous than the grantees of other tracts granted on account of similar meritorious services, but the petition seems to have been rejected.

In May, 1787, the proprietors, numbering 97, determined to make the number of lots 100, so that the ministry should have two and the school one. The proprietors accordingly drew for their lots, and it was agreed about this time that 60 of the proprietors should settle upon the land, and that the remaining 37 should be relieved of the obligation to settle upon the payment of £IS each toward the building of a meeting-house and settlement of a minister.

At a meeting of the proprietors, held in Deerfield in Oeto- ber, 1737, it was decided to raise £40 for the building of a \ saw-mill on Fall River near the meadow-lands, and a com- mittee appointed for the purpose was instructed to have the mill set up by the following summer, and to agree with Joseph Mitchell or some other person to do the work. The committee was further directed to see about the erection of a grist-mill, to be devoted to the use of the proprietors, near the saw- mill; and it was conditioned further that the person who set up the saw-mill should be entitled to the exclusive mill- privileges of that part of Fall River only in the event of his setting up the grist-mill for the benefit of the proprietors. For the purpose of erecting the grist-mill each proprietor was taxed 10s.

At a meeting in February, 1738, it being reported that 60 settlers could not be obtained for the fund created by the assessment of €18 apiece against the 37 proprietors relieved from the obligation of settling, it was voted to increase that assessment to £22 each. These 37 non-settlers were to give bonds for the above amount, each payable May 1, 1739, and the 60 settlers were to give bonds of £100 each for the faithful performance of the injunetions laid upon the proprietors by act of General Court in issuing the grant.

The following persons thereupon agreed to settle in the township, and gave the required bonds: Thos. Miller, Reuben Lockwood, Samuel Bardwell, Judah Wright, Elijah Wil- liams, Thomas French, Benjamin Munn, Elizer Hawks, Joseph Bascom, John Nims, Jr., Joshua Wells, John Catlin (3d), Nathaniel Foot, Thomas Wells, Chas. Coats, Adonijah Atherton, Ebenezer Smead, Jr., Josinh Scott, David Field, Ilezekiah Newcomb, Aaron Smith, John Hitchcock, Jr., John Hitchcock, Aaron Stebbins, Nathan Tuttle, Jonathan_ Clary, John Wait, Shem Chapin, John Burk, Nathaniel Sikes, Ebenezer Sheldon, Hezekiah Wright, Eleazer Weller, Hezekiah Lanphear, Samuel Smith, Simeon Wait, Noah Cook, Wm. Janes, Thos. Alvard, John Ely, Jonathan White, Stephen Belden, Ichabod Allies, Samuel Connable, William Jones, John Lyman, Josiah Leonard, Samuel Bennett, Henry Rogers, John Reed, Nathaniel Sutlitt, Joseph Winchell, Jos. Mitchell, Wm. Seott, Benjamin Rugg. These settlers took up the 60 lots required to be occupied, and in the autumn of 1738 the township received its first settlers in the persons of . Maj. John Burk, Lieut. Ebenezer Sheldon, Deacon (probably Elisha) Sheldon, and Samuel Connable, who built the first houses of the settlement.

At this time the saw-mill was doubtless completed ; but the grist-mill was not begun, and, nothing being done toward it as late as October, 1740, a new committee was appointed to push the project. A bridge was ordered to be built over Fall River near the saw-mill, in October, 1740, and highways were ordered to be laid out in the township as the committee should think proper. Settlements not being made to any extent by October, 1740, the proprietors decided to assess each right (" except ye publiek rights") 822 for the purpose of eneour-

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IHISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.

aging settlers building the bridge over Fall River, finishing the meeting-house, and paying other charges.

A proprietors' meeting was held Oct. 16, 1740, in the house of Ebenezer Sheldon, in Falls Fight township, and at the next meeting, October 19th, in Deerfield. Thomas Wells was employed to petition the General Court for an additional grant of land lying between Falls Fight township and Boston town- ship No. 2 (Coleraine), and for his services in securing the grant he was to have 150 aeres in said grant. At this meet- ing a committee was appointed to lay out a burying-ground of about 3 acres. The additional grant (known as The Gore) above petitioned for was obtained by Thomas Wells for the proprietors, but, for some reason unexplained, they refused to give him the 150 acres as the price of his services in the pre- mises. Subsequently, they paid him £50 for his trouble.

The grist-mill project was still in embryo in September, 1742, when a new committee was chosen, and instructed to have the mill set up by " some meet person" within eighteen months.

The settlement was seriously disturbed during the exciting period of Indian warfare between 1745 and 1750, and, many of the settlers retiring temporarily to towns of greater security, those who remained busied themselves chiefly in effecting measures for protection against apprehended Indian attacks. The settlement was, however, not much of a sufferer at the hands of the savages, and in 1750 the wanderers therefrom had returned, and the business of pushing the settlement for- . ward was briskly resumed.

Among the carliest roads laid out were: one from Lieut. Sheldon's to the saw-mill ; one from the country-road by the saw-mill to Simeon Hall's; one from the saw-mill to Sergt. Allen's ; one from Meses Scott's to Deacon Sheldon's; une from Samuel Hastings' to Dry Brook ; one from the country-road to Amasa Sheldon's ; one from Benjamin Green's southward ; and the road from Deerfield to Coleraine, which passed through Falltown.

NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS.

In 1771 certain persons residing in Bernardston petitioned the General Court to be set off to Coleraine, but Bernardston opposed the petition successfully at that time, although later, in 1779, the petition was renewed and granted in accordance with a vote of the town of Bernardston, by which 2576 acres of land belonging to that town, and lying west of Green River, were set off to Coleraine. AAlthough efforts were frequently made during the earlier years of the settlement of Falltown for the erection of a grist-mill, the enterprise appears to have remained unrealized until 1770 or thereabouts. This mill was owned by Samuel Connable, and was located on the northwest branch of Fall River. The first tavern in the town was kept by Elijah (or Elisha) Sheldon as early as 1760, and perhaps previous to that date, near Iluckle Hill.

Maj. John Burk, one of the first settlers in the Falls Fight township, and for many years an important man in the af- fairs of Bernardston, kept a tavern in 1763 in the centre of the town, just south of where Weatherhead's saw-mill now is. The sign which used to swing in front of Maj. Burk's tavern is still preserved among the curious relics owned by the Po- comptuck Valley Association at Deerfield, Mass.

The first mention of a physician dates from about 1777, when Dr. Polycarpus Cushman flourished in Bernardston. In 1779 it was voted to divide the land of the town, east of Green River, into two towns or districts, as follows, viz. :

" To set off at the south line of the town, one mile west of Zebulon Allen's house, and so to run a line northerly that will extend half a mile west of Joseph Edwards' house, and so to extend the same course to the north line of the town."

The first recorded birth in Falltown was that of Ebenezer, son to Moses and Miriam Scott, September, 1743; and the first death, that of Seth, son of Job Wright, in August, 1763. It is worthy of mention that when the first meeting-house was erected on lluckle Hill, in 1740, an approach to it was made,

under town orders, by cutting and burning the brush which surrounded it upon every side. This meeting-house, it may be welded, was the first frame building erected in the town. Apro- pos of the erection of the first dwellings in the town, else- where noted :

Lient Ebenezer Sheldon located in the east part, Deacon Sheldon on Huckle Ilill, Maj. John Burk in the centre, on the highway leading to Brattleboro', and Samuel Connable in the north. Near the house of each of these four settlers was subsequently built a town fort, to which the inhabitants in the vicinity repaired every night during the periods of In- dian troubles. Maj. Burk's fort (so called beenuse near his house), the largest of these forts, was located on the west bank of Fall River, on the site now occupied by L. M. Weather- head's saw-mill. It was six rods square, and constructed of timber 12 feet in length. In 1746 an attack was made on this fort by a large force of Indians, and, although there were in the fort only two men besides Maj. Burk, the savages were beaten off with the loss of two of their number.

In 1747, Eliakim, son of Lieut. Ebenezer Sheldon, was shot by the Indians while he was walking near his father's house, and about the same time a band of savages attempted to de- stroy Deacon Elisha Sheldon's house on Huckle Hill, but were routed by Lient. Ebenezer Sheldon, who appeared on the scene with aid just in the nick of time. Lieut. Sheldon was famous as an Indian-fighter, and was known far and near as the Old Indian-Hunter. Maj. Burk was widely noted for skill and daring in Indian warfare, and frequently served in campaigns against the Indians.

Among the inhabitants of Bernardston who went into the service against the Indians were Caleb Chapin and his two sons, Joel and Hezekiah. They were with Col. Ephraim Williams at Lake George in 1755, where Caleb Chapin was killed. He was wounded in the thick of battle while fight- ing by the side of his sons, and when he fell they sought to bear him away, but he sternly commanded them to save them- selves and leave him to his fate. They left him accordingly where he fell, and when, after the fight, they returned in search of him, they found him dead, with a tomahawk buried in his brain. This tomahawk is still preserved in the cabinet of the New England Antiquarian Society at Worcester.

Bernardston lent a helping hand to the insurgents during the Shays rebellion, and Capt. Jason Parmenter, a citizen of Bernardston, was conspicuous as one of Shays' chief sup- ports. Toward the elose of the rebellion, in 1787, a party of government authorities visited Bernardston for the purpose of apprehending Parmenter. The latter, being overtaken while attempting to escape, fired upon his pursuers and killed one, Jacob Walker, of Whately. He then fled for safety to Ver- mont, but was captured the next day and conveyed to jail at Northampton. He was subsequently condemned to death, but eventually pardoned.

The first census of Bernardston was taken in 1765, when the population was shown to be 230, and of these a majority were settled in the eastern part of the town, probably near Huckle Hill. Bernardston celebrated, Aug. 20, 1862, the centennial of its civil organization, on which occasion there was a large gathering of people in Bernardston village, Ley- den taking also a conspicuous part. The features of the cele- bration were a procession, pienie, addresses, and a collation.

REVOLUTIONARY REMINISCENCES.

The records show but vaguely the action of the town during the stirring years of the American Revolution, but they show that Bernardston was prompt and patriotic in dealing with the issues of the day, and in devoting its energies to a noble con- tribution of men and means in behalf of the common cause.

The committee of correspondence in 1776 consisted of Capt. Elisha Burnham, Aaron Field, Lieut. Joseph Slate, Daniel Newcomh, and Caleb Chapin. In 1778 a bounty of £50 per

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

man was offered for eight months' men. Quite a number of men were fined for failing to enter the service when drafted, and from these fines a fund was raised to pay bounties for three nine months' men carly in 1778. Samuel Connable and his son, John, were exeused from fine upon the eller Connable's sending his son, Samuel Barnard, into the service for nine months, and he was further repaid the sum of £40, which he had paid the town in fines. It was determined to take a new average in the town with respect to the charges of the war, and that a poll should be estimated at $10, as money went in 1774, and that $166 13s. 4d. of estate of the same money, free of all charges, should be reckoned equal to a poll. The committee appointed to make the average was directed to take into con- sideration what each man had done in the war, the time he had served, and the wages he received, the bounties he had ob- tained, the value of the money, and the hardship he had eu- dured, and the extraordinary expense he was at in purchasing necessaries for his subsistence ; the fines paid by drafted men and the value of the money when it was paid.

William Fox was allowed the privilege of joining with three other men to make one man to serve as a militia soldier for the term of eight months, and Stephen Webster, Jr., was allowed 863, out of the money collected by fines, for serving as a militia soldier eight months. Joshua Wells, Jr., went out also at this time as an eight months' man, and the west part of the town was instructed to make him " a reasonable satisfaction" for so doing. Joseph Allen, Jr., was likewise permitted the privilege of joining with three other men to make one man to serve eight months. .

Aug. 16, 1779, the town placed on record its disapproval of the doings of the convention at Concord in July of that year, and chose a committee to write to the convention called to meet in Concord, October, 1779, giving the town's reasons for the disapproval. It was voted to send a committee to Boston to make a claim in behalf of the town to Samuel Farrar and Jonathan Wright, or any other soldier returned by this and some other town; and it was further agreed to prepare a petition to the General Court asking to be eased of the great burden laid upon them, above other towns in the State, re- specting the charge of the war. 'In December, 1779, it was determined not to do anything touching the resolves of the Concord Convention, and the town also refused to pay the money subscribed to hire soldiers.

In June, 1780, 40s, silver money per month were offered as wages to such as would enlist, and, at this rate, 11 Conti- mental, and 1} militia soldiers were hired. In January, 1781, the bounty offered was £60 silver money for each soldier who would enlist for three years or during the war, £20 to be paid at the beginning of each year for three years. Six more three years' men were sent out in July, 1781, and they were given $10 in silver per man as a bounty. In December, 1781, the town purchased three horses for the army,-one from Lieut. David Rider for £6 14s., one from Ensign John Con- nabel for £6, and one from Aaron Field for $6.

That Bernardston sent men into the service promptly upon the sounding of the Lexington alarm is evidenced by an entry in the town records under date of May, 1775, resolving that " the town shall provide 16 men, with what have already enlisted ;" and later, " those persons who took powder from the common stock last spring in the alarm, and returned home soon after from Cambridge, are to be accountable to the town for the same."

Capt. Joseph Slate, who served heroically through the French-and-Indian war, was plowing on the east side of West Mountain on the day the battle of Bunker Hill was being fought, and, without knowing anything about it, he declared that fighting was going on somewhere, and that he could hear the sounds of the conflict. So impressed was he with this conviction that before nightfall he was en route to Deerfield to satisfy himself, and, there learning that his conjectures were

correct, be set out the following day for Boston, where he joined the army. There were, it is said, six Tories in Ber- nardston at the breaking out of the Revolution, but they were heavily overawed by the patriotie citizens, and wisely kept their own counsels.

There are now living in Bernardston two survivors of the war of 1812,-Hosen Aldrich, aged eighty-six, who went from Bernardston, and David Pratt, aged ninety-one, who entered the service from Shutesbury. The town took no formal action in the opposition to the declaration of war in 1812, although Hezekiah Newcomb and Caleb Chapin were self-chosen dele- gates to the anti-war convention at Northampton, and claimed to represent Bernardston.

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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 42

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