History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. II, Part 9

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 9

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THE FRANKLIN COUNTY NATIONAL BANK

was organized as a State bank, with $100,000 capital, April 24, 1849. The original directors were Henry W. Cushman, John B. Ward, Ebenezer Maynard, Henry Chapman, Almon Brai- nard, Quintus Allen, Ira Abercrombie, Joel Fay, Wendell T. Davis, Asa Howland, Wm. B. Washburn, William Keith ; President, Henry W. Cushman ; Cashier, Andrew G. Ham- mond. The capital was increased to $150,000, July 1, 1850; to $200,000, July 1, 1852. It was reorganized as a national bank March 13, 1865.

Presidents .- Henry W. Cushman, Ira Abercrombie, Wil- liam Keith (in office).

Cashiers .- Andrew G. Hammond, Edwin Maynard, Charles I. Fuller, Rufus A. Packard, Henry K. Simons (in office).

May 1, 1879, the capital was $200,000 ; surplus and profits, $100,000; individual deposits, $265,000; United States de- posits, $763,000. It pays semi-annual dividends at the rate of six per cent. per annum.

THE PACKARD NATIONAL BANK

was organized in 1875, with a capital stock of $100,000. The officers are : President, N. F. Henry ; Cashier, R. A. Packard, Directors, N. F. Ilenry, A. C. Deane, George A. Kimball, Almon Newcomb, Jacob Stever, R. A. Packard.

THE FRANKLIN SAVINGS INSTITUTION

was incorporated April 2, 1834. The first officers were : Presi- dent, Elijah Alvord ; Secretary, Thomas O. Sparhawk ; Treas- urer, Franklin Ripley. Mr. Ripley continued to be treasurer till his death, in 1860, and was succeeded hy W. H. Allen, the present treasurer. The officers now are: President, S. O. Lamb; Secretary, F. R. Allen; Treasurer, W. HI. Allen. The deposits amount to about $2,800,000.

THIE GREENFIELD SAVINGS BANK

was incorporated March 19, 1869. The original corporators were John Sanderson, William Keith, Chester C. Conant.

President .- John Sanderson (in office).

Treasurers .- Rufus A. Packard, Henry K. Simons (in office).

May 1, 1879, the deposits were $840,000. Officers : Presi- dent, John Sanderson; Vice-President, William Keith ; Treasurer, Henry K. Simons; Secretary, Chester C. Conant ; Trustees, William Keith, Quintus Allen, Dennis Dickinson, George II. Hovey, Virgil M. Howard, George A. Arms, Elijah E. Beldling, Leonard Barton, Eben A. Half, Lyman G. Barton, Levi J. Gunn, Francis M. Thompson, Charles R. Lowell, Charles Keith, Henry K. Simons.

* June 24, 1811.

590

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

SOCIETIES.

MASONIC.

Republican Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was organ- ized Jan. 28, 1795. The institution languished in 1821, and the charter was given up, or rather removed to the town of Gill for a while, and then surrendered. In December, 1851, after the anti-Masonic exeitement had passed, the lodge came forth anew. The old charter was restored, and John A. Gam- ber chosen Master. Since that time the lodge has had a flourishing career. Its present officers are James R. Long, W. M .; John M. Wells, S. W .; Charles L. Smith, J. W. ; Charles P. Forbes, Treas. ; Luther L. Pratt, Sec.

The Franklin Royal Arch Chapter was organized Jan. 11, 1818. George Wilby was M. E. II. P.

Titus Strong Council was organized Dec. 9, 1856. George Wilby was T. I. M.

Connecticut Falley Commandery was organized Oet. 30, 1867. Charles II. Mclellan was E. C.

Knights of the Red Cross .- William S. Severance, Sover- eign.

Connecticut Valley Masonic Relief Association .- B. S. Parker, President ; E. H. Hall, Vice-President ; C. P. Forbes, Treas. ; L. C. Pratt, See.

ODD-FELLOWS.

Pocomptuck Lodge, No. 97, 1. O. O. F., was instituted in Greenfield, May 6, 1845. Charter surrendered August, 1855. Reinstituted Nov. 28, 1870. Admissions since that time, 160. Present membership, 120. Income for 1878, $952. Dis- bursed to the sick in 1878, $112. The present officers are Manly MeClure, N. G .; Warren M. King, V. G. ; Hopkins Woods, Sec. ; Charles Simonds, Treas.

TOWN OFFICERS. SELECTMEN.

Ebenezer Smead, 1753; Samuel Hinsdale, 1753-54, 1771-72; Daniel Nash, 1753, '59, '62, '66, '70, 72; Ebenezer Wells, 1754, '55, '56, '58, '60, '61, '63, '64, '67, '68, '69, '70, '71, '73, '75; Daniel Denio, 1754; Benjamin Hastings, 1755 ; Timothy Childs, 1755, '61, '63; Jonathan Smead, 1756; Ebenezer Arms, 1756, '57, '58, '60, '66, "72, '74, '78, '79; David Wells, 1757; Thomas Nims, 1757, '68, '77; Amos Allen, 1758, '60; Jonathan Severance, 1759, '62, '63, '64, '66, '67, '68, '69, '71; Samuel Wells, 1759, '64, '74, '75; Ebenezer Graves, 1761, '75, '78, '79, '80, '84 ; David Smead, 1762, '67, "72, '76, '78, '79; Moses Bascom, 1769, '82, '89, '91, '92; Benjamin Hastings, Jr., 1770, '72; David Ripley, 1773; Samuel Field, 1774; Samnel Stoughton, 1774, '77, '78, '83, '86; Joseph Wells, 1776; Isaac Foster, 1776 ; Agrippa Wells, 1777; Lemuel Smead, 1777, '81, '83, '85, '86, '87; Isaac Newton, 1777, '80, '81, '82, '84, '85, '87, '88, '89, '90, '92, 194, '95, 196, '97, '98, '99, 1800, '1 '2, '3, '8, '9; Andrew Putnam, 1781 ; Moses Arms, 1782, '83, '85, '88, '90, '91, 1804, '5 ; John Wells, 1784; Ezekiel Bascom, 1786 ; Philip Ballard, 1787, 'S8, '90; Daniel Smead, 1789; William More, 1790, '92; Abner Wells, 1790-91 ; Solomon Smead, 1793-98, '80; William Sinalley, 1793; Hull Nims, 1793, '99; Jerome Ripley, 1794-96; Caleb Alvord, 1797; Caleb Clapp, 1798-1800; Quintus Allen, 1801-3; John Russell, 1801-3; Eliel Gilbert, 1804-7; William Wait, 1807-10; Thomas Smead, 1809-18; Eli Graves, 1810-13 ; David Ripley, 1811-13; Oliver Wilkinson, 1814; Uriah Martindale, 1814; Samnel Picket, 1815-19, '22, '25 ; Samnel Wells, 1815-16; Nathan Draper, 1817-19; Thaddeus Coleman, 1819-20, '37, '38; Isaac Newton, Jr., 1820-21, '29, '30, '33, '34; Jolin Mason, 1820; llart Leavitt, 1821-24; Julian Smead, 1821-24; Ebenezer Nash, 1823-24, 126, '27, '28, '33, '34, '35, '36; Charles Williams, 1825-28; Franklin Ripley, 1828-29, '35, '36, '37; Asaph Smead, 1829-30; John Russell, 1830-31 ; David Allen, 1831-32; Russell Hastings, 1831; Thomas O. Sparhawk, 1832; J. J. Graves, 1832; Ambrose Ames, 1834; George Adams, 1835-40; David Long (2d), 1838-40; Quintus Allen, 1839-40 ; Horatio G. Newcomb, 1841-42; Thomas Nims, 1841-42, '44; Lemuel II. Long, 1841-43; J. J. Pierce, 1843-46, '48; Orin Smith, 1843; David Aiken, 1844; Hervey C. Newton, 1844-46, '49, '55, '61, '62, '63, '65, '66; Justin Root, 1845-46; Priestly Newton, 1847-48; Albert Nims, 18447; Thomas Wait, 1847-48; David S. Jones, 1848; George Grinnell, 1850; Barnard A. Newell, 1850; Peleg Adams, 1850-51, '54; Wendell T. Davis, 1851-52, '58, '59, '60; George W. Potter, 1851-52, '58, '60, "70, '71, '72; Isaac Barton, 1852; A. G. Hammond, 1853; Alfred Wells, 1853; Ebenezer Thayer, 1853; Horatio G. Parker, 1854 ; Lncius Nims, 1854-55, '58, '59, '60; P. P. Severance, 1855; Samuel II. Reed, 1856-57; Albert Smead, 1856-57; Roswell W. Cook, 1856-57; Alfred R. Field, 1861-62; Anson K. Warner, 1861- 63, '65, '66, '67; Humphrey Stevens, 1863-67; Henry L. Pratt, 1864; Frederic G. Smith, 1864, '67, '68, '69; Charles Mattoon, 1868-69 ; Chauncey Bryant, 1868; Joel S. Sanderson, 1869; William Keith, 1870-77; Lyman G. Barton, 1870-75 ; Edwin J. Jones, 1873; Charles R. Field, 1874-76 ; George A. Kimball, 1876; Scorim B. Slafe, 1877-79 ; Levi J. Gunn, 1877-78 ; Manly McClure, 1878-79; Charles Kelth, 1879.

TOWN CLERKS.

Benjamin Hastings, 1753-69; Ebenezer Wells, 1770-72, 1781-82; John Sever- ance, 1773-74; Samuel Wells, 1775-80; Ebenezer Graves, 1783 ; Edward Billings, 1784; Moses Bascom, 1785-86; Solomon Smead, 1787-91 ; Daniel Wells, 1792-1808 ; Jolin Russell, 1809-10; Hooker Leavitt, 1811-16, 1829-42 ; David Willard, 1817- 28, 1845-55; Lewis C. Munn, 1843-44; Noah S. Wells, 1856-74; Franklin A. Pond, 1875-76; Francis M. Thompson, 1877.

TOWN TREASURERS.

Ebenezer Arnis, 1753-68; Ebenezer Wells, 1769-71, 1781 ; Jonathan Severance, 1772-73; Samuel Hinsdale, 1774-75; Samnel Wells, 1776-80; Ebenezer Graves, 1782-83 ; Moses Bascom, 1784-87 ; Solomon Smead, 1788-91 ; Daniel Wells, 1792-" 1808; Jobn Russell, 1800-10; Hooker Leavitt, 1811-16, 1829-42; David Willard, 1817-28; Lewis C. Munn, 1843-44; Lewis Merriam, 1845-46, 1848-49; Charles K. Grinnell, 1847; Rufus Ilowland, 1850-54, 1856-62 ; Edward Maynard, 1855 ; Bela Kellogg, 1863-64; Noah S. Wells, 1865-74; Franklin A. Pond, 1875-76; Francis M. Thompson, 1877.

MILITARY.

GREENFIELD IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

Our town shared heartily in the patriotie enthusiasm which marked the uprising of the nation to defend the flag when assailed on the 11th of April, 1861. Peaceful citizens left their usual avocations, and at once assumed the duties and responsibilities of soldiers. The sound of the drum and fife was heard daily in our streets. Armed men paraded every day. All was excitement of hope and fcar. The fact of war was brought home to us most distinetly in a bright summer morning in June, 1861. The first company-E, of the 10th Regiment, under command of Capt. Day-started to join the army in the field. The company was paraded in the street, and, in the presence of a crowd of neighbors and friends, the venerable Dr. Chandler commended them in fervent prayer to the care and guidance of the infinite God, and in a feeling address regretted that the infirmities of age would not allow him to go with them, and exhorted them not to be shot in the back. The company then, with measured step, at beat of drum, hastened to the station. It was an occasion to be re- membered. It brought the war more directly before us.

Greenfield sent into the service of the country about 500 men. Of these, something like 100 were not residents of the town, but were secured by recruiting officer wherever they could be found. About 400 were residents here at the time of their enlistment.

The following is a list, so far as is known, of the 43 Green- field men who lost their lives in the war :

llorace M. Allen, Edward Avery, Lient. William F. Barrett, John A. Bascom, Geo. A. Burnham, Sergt. Fernando B. Bennett, Henry Bowers, Henry J. Bowers, William J. Bowers, Amasa B. Clifford, Capt. Edwin E. Day, Lu- cius J. Eldy, Henry E. Eddy, Wm. R. Elder, Jacob Eppler, Alphonse K. Graves, Charles Groestick, James M. Hall, Q.M. Clerk, Seth Ilaughton, Lieut. Silas Hananm, Sergi. Frederic W. Hayden, Augustus M. Howard, Geo. M. Lander, Corp. Christopher Megratb, James Moran, Corp. Jamies D. Murray, Sergt. Geo. Nima, Christopher Newton, Lient. George G. Nut- ting, Horace C. Packard, William Partenheimer, Geo. W. Perigo, James G. Potter, Charles W. Potter, Jacob Rice, James E. Robbins, llenry A .. Ryther, Wm. E. Ryther, Edward Sbehan, Lewis II. Stiles, Maj. William Augustus Walker, Brev. Brig .- Gen. Geo. D. Wells, Byram C. Wright.

All these men deserve a lasting record in the history of the town. But lack of space forbids here mention of any except those who held high positions.

Capt. Edwin E. Day was born Sept. 3, 1825, in Gill. Ile married and lived at Factory village, in Greenfield, and was captain of a militia company when the war of the Rebellion began. Ile was the first man to enlist from this town, and was mustered into service June 21, 1861, as captain of Com- pany G, 10th Regiment. In the campaign on the Peninsula, at the first battle in which the regiment was engaged, on the last day of May, 1862, Capt. Day was killed at the head of his company. He received three bullet wounds. The second was fatal. The third was received after he had been laid upon a stretcher to be taken from the field. In November, 1865, his remains were brought here and buried. Ile was a wise and faithful officer, and a brave soldier. He died with his

591

HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.

armor on, amid the din and roar of battle. The fatal bullet piereed him as he stood facing the foe.

Maj. William Augustus Walker was born in Portsmouth in 1827. He resided there till he was twenty years of age. After a few years' residence in Boston he came to this town in 1853. He was a young man of cultivated and refined tastes, generous and public-spirited to a fault. He cheerfully responded to the call of his country. He enlisted Oct. 16, 1861, and raised a company for the 27th Regiment, and re- ceived a captain's commission. He accompanied Burnside in his expedition to North Carolina, and was appointed provost- marshal at Washington, N. C. In May, 1863, he was pro- moted to major, and commanded the regiment in a charge on the rebel works at Gaines' Mills, Va., June 3, 1863. 1Ie had reached the rifle-pits, when he was pierced through the neck by a rifle-ball, and fell dead. The universal testimony was that he was a faithful and brave officer, securing the re- spect and confidence of the men under his command.

With the name of George Duncan Wells is associated a record of a brief but noble life of which our town may well be proud. The son of Judge Daniel Wells,-a name of historic interest among us,-he was born Aug. 21, 1826. He graduated at Williams College, and at the Dane Law School in Harvard University. He studied law with his father, and practiced for a while in this town with his cousin, Daniel Wells Alvord. Removing to Boston, he was appointed judge of the police court.

When the war broke out Judge Wells was among the very first to offer his services to the government. He was mustered May 22, 1861. I find on the list of Massachusetts Volunteers no name of earlier date than this. He was appointed lieuten- ant-colonel of the Ist Regiment, which position he filled with great honor and acceptance till July 11, 1862, when he was appointed colonel of the 34th, which office he held till his deatlı, which resulted from wounds received 'in battle on the 13th of October, 1864, near Sterling Farm, in West Virginia. His remains were brought to Greenfield, and buried among the scenes familiar to his childhood. No man entered the service with nobler sentiments of duty and patriotism, or with a clearer perception of the issue at stake, than Col. Wells. Colonel we must continue to eall him, though he was breveted brigadier-general on the day of his fatal wound. Few men had more to give their country in this great crisis ; no one gave his all more freely, more heartily, than Col. Wells.

After the war was elosed the town voted to erect a monu- ment to the memory of those who lost their lives in the service of the country. Accordingly, a handsome and highly-polished shaft of Scotch granite was erected on the Common, surmounted by a bronze eagle cast in Munich. The pedestal bears this in- scription : " Greenfield erects this monument in grateful honor to her patriotic sons who offered their lives in suppressing the great Rebellion, and for the preservation of the National Union, 1861-65."

A substantial iron fence was put about the Common at the same time. The whole eost was $10,000.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

PELEG ADAMS

was born in Northbridge, Worcester Co., Mass., on the 29tlı of December, 1799. He is a son of Andrew and Betsey Chapin Adams, and the youngest of a family of four children, con- sisting of three sons and one daughter. His brothers are both dead ; his sister is living, and now resides in Ohio. His father was a native of Northbridge, and was there engaged in mer- cantile business, in which he lost his entire property, but through no fault of his own. In 1803 he removed to Green-

field, Mass., where he spent the remainder of his life. He engaged in agriculture, accumulated quite a property, and died in Greenfield at the age of sixty-two.

The subject of this notice received a common-school and a thoroughly-practical education. His minority was mostly spent in working upon his father's farm. When twenty-three years of age he commeneed working out by the month at farm labor, in which employment he continued during the greater

PELEG ADAMS.

part of six years. In 1831 he purchased in the town of Green- field the farm he now owns, and also built the house in which he still resides. For twenty-five years he was engaged quite successfully in the business of a drover, and also in the culti- vation of his farm. Mr. Adams also purchased, a few years ago, the Mansion House, in the village of Greenfield, which he has thoroughly repaired, and indeed is still constantly im- proving, thereby greatly adding to its value and attractiveness.

He has served the publie in the capacity of selectman and assessor, has always maintained a reputation for honor and strict integrity, and enjoys the respect and confidence of all who know him.

Though not a member of any church, he has been closely connected with the Universalist Society of Bernardston, to the support of which he has largely contributed.

Mr. Adams was married on the 15th of February, 1831, to Lucinda Hancock, of Longmeadow ; she died at the age of thirty years. By this union there were four children. His second wife died on the 17th of May, 1868, aged fifty-three years. His present wife, Jane W. Bascom, was born on the 21st of July, 1813.

REV. JOHN F. MOORS

was born in Groton, Mass., Dec. 10, 1819. He was brought up on a farm, and was educated at the public schools and at the academy in that place till 1838, when he entered Harvard College, where he graduated in 1842. He passed at once into the Cambridge Divinity School, where he graduated in 1845. The following week he entered on professional service in Deer- field, where he was ordained over the First Congregational (Unitarian) Society, Jan. 28, 1846. He was dismissed in April, 1860, and on the 22d of that month was installed over the Third Congregational (Unitarian) Society in Greenfield.

592

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

In October, 1862, he was commissioned chaplain of the 520 Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers by Gov. Andrew, and served with the regiment under Gen. Banks till it was mus- tered out, in August, 1863. In 1874 he served in the lower branch of the State Legislature, and in 1877 in the upper branch,

Mr. Moors was for many years a member of the school com- mittee in Deerfield, and afterward in Greenfield. He was for several years president of the board of trustees of Deerfield Academy, and the first president of the new board of the con- solidated corporation of " Deerfield Academy and Dickinson High School."

DEERFIELD .*

GEOGRAPHICAL.

THE Pocomptuck of two centuries ago lay upon the west bank of " ye Grate River Quinneticot," its shore-line being about twenty miles long. Its south line was the north bound of the Quonquot purchase by llatfield, running from the place where the Pocomptuck path crossed the Thee-ki-o-an-mick (or Sugar-Loaf Brook), seven miles westward. The north and west bounds were each about thirteen miles long, abutting against the unclaimed wilderness. This territory of about one hundred and thirty square miles has been shorn of its fair proportions from time to time by cutting off the towns of Greenfield, Gill, Conway, Shelburne, and a part of Whately, until it now contains but about thirty-six square miles. 1ts old boundary was territory now occupied by the towns of Coleraine, Leyden, Bernardston, and Northfield, on the north ; by Montague, Whately, and Williamsburg, on the south ; east, it was separated by the Connecticut River from North- field, Erving, Montague, and Sunderland; on the west lie Goshen, Ashfield, Buckland, and Charlemont. The present bounds of the town are Greenfield, north ; Whately and Con- way, south ; Montague and Sunderland, east ; Shelburne and Conway, west.

NATURAL FEATURES.

The topography of Pocomptuck is peculiar. Along the bank of the Connecticut lies a fertile meadow, about a hundred rods wide, extending nearly the whole length of the town; from this, to the west, rises a range of hills from one to two miles in width, running from Wequamps (Sugar-Loaf ) on the south to the Greenfield line, rising about midway, at Pocomptuck Rock, to a height of seven hundred and fifty feet. From the foot of this range a plain or valley spreads westward, from one to two miles in width. lIere the " Dedham Grant" was laid out, and here are located the " Old Street," the principal villages, and the famous " Deerfield meadows," a rich alluvial deposit of late geologieal formation.

Still to the westward, the surface rises in swelling hills, one above the other, to its western bounds, reaching, at " Arthur's Seat," an elevation of one thousand feet. These were the "Sunsick Hills" of the Indians, the " West Mountains" of to-day, and may be considered the foot-hills of the Hoosack Mountains. These hills are nearly bare of forest, affording the best of grazing land, while a few good farms are scattered in the valleys. The town is well watered. The Connectient is described elsewhere. The Pocomptuck (Deerfield), rising on the east slope of the Green Mountains in Vermont, coming into this town from the northwest, has channeled for itself a deep rocky bed through the Sunsiek llills, and debouches upon the central valley at Stillwater ; then, turning to the northeast, continues a serpentine course across the meadows and through a remarkable gorge at Cheapside, reaching the Connecticut about eight miles from Stillwater. Among the numerous smaller streams the historic Bloody Brook stands first; a few other brooks, which have afforded mill-sites, are Bijah's,

Roaring, Parsons', Taylor's, Carter's Land, Sheldon's, Field's lfill, Hoyt's Mill, and Turkey-Bin. Some of the ponds are Broughton's, Beaman's, Pine Hill, Round, and Old River.

SETTLEMENT. DEDHAM GRANT.

To Christianize the natives, which was a prime object with the pious settlers, the apostle Eliot was employed to teach them the doctrines of the Bible. He soon found this impossible with- out an accompanying civilization, which involved their giving up their roving habits of life. To this end Eliot asked grants of land, on which he could gather them permanently and teach them the arts of "civility." In answer, the General Court, in 1651, authorized him to lay out a tract of two thou- sand aeres at Natick and there found a settlement of Indians. This tract fell within the bounds of Dedham, and a long con- troversy in the general and civil courts followed in regard to a compensation for that town. At length, on the 2d of June, 1663, the General Court ordered that " for a finall issue of the case between Dedham and Naticke, the Court judgeth meete to grannt Dedham eight thousand acres of land in any con- venient place or places, not exceeding two, where it can be found free from graunts, provided Dedham except this offer." The terms being satisfactory to Dedham, the General Court, at the session in October, 1663, appointed Ens. John Everard and Jonathan Danforth a committee to lay out the grant.

After several months' searching for a satisfactory location, on the 9th of November, 1664, the selectmen of Dedham report that they had heard of an available tract "about twelve or fourteen miles above Hadly," and recommend that the grant be laid out there. A committee of eight men, four of whom could aet, was appointed to carry out the recommendation. Some trouble arising about the matter, at a meeting March 20, 1665, it was finally arranged that Lieut. Joshua Fisher, Ed- ward Richards, Anthony Fisher, Jr., and Timothy Dwite should lay out the grant, and should depart on that mission " the day after Election, or the second day of the week follow- ing at the fartherest." This committee came to Pocomptuck, located and surveyed the land, returning a detailed plan, giving courses and distances, to the General Court at their session in May, 1665. " The Court allows and approoves of this returne, provided they make a towne of it, to majntejne the orddnances of Christ there once within five years, and that it interfere not with Maj'r-Genll Dennison and Hadly grant."

The unusually-accurate lloyt, Holland, and others have constantly asserted that the date of this grant was in 1669, in- stead of 1663; but the records are clear, fully according with dates given above. Conveyance of land by the natives was void by law without concurrent action by the colonial authorities, and Dedham would hardly have paid " £96 10s." and been at the expense of the survey on such a venture.

INDIAN PURCHASE.

llaving laid out the grant according to the direction of the court, Dedham proceeded to perfect its title, according to the

* Prepared by Hou. George Sheldon.

HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.

593

policy of the colony, by buying the land of the native elaim- ants. June 4, 1666, two men were appointed by the town " to employ the Worshipful Col. Pynchon to buy the Indian title in the 8000 acres." It appears that on the 6th of June, 1667,. he had expended £40 in this service. Previous to this date he had procured two deeds,-one from Wut-tar-o-lunek-sin, of an unknown date, the other dated Feb. 24, 1666-67, from " Chank, Sachem of Pacumtuck," " for himself and his Brother Wap-a-ho-ale." This is given below.

fact that, so closely did the footsteps of advancing civilization follow upon the heels of retiring barbarism, on the very day that the sachem of Pocomptuck set his mark to the deed con- veying all his Pocomptnek lands to the English forever, the people of Dedham, in town-meeting assembled, imposed a tax upon these very lands for the support of a Christian ministry there. The vote ran, " That each proprietor's land there shall pay annually toward the maintenance of an orthodox minis- ter there two shillings for every cow-common that he shall

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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 9

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