USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Ashfield > History of the town of Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts from its settlement in 1742 to 1910 > Part 20
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left arm. Nathan Lyon, five enlistments from April 26, '75 to Aug. 21, '77.
Calvin Maynard, given by Mr. B. Howes, but we are not able to locate him in state list. Alexander McIntire, Aug. 17, '77; service 5 days. Thomas McIntire enl. April 22, '75; service 5 days; also April 27, '75; service 3 mos. 11 days. Stephen Merrill enl. Jan. 6, '77, service 86 days. Daniel Miles, Feb. 24, '77, 1 mo. 17 days; also May 10, '77, service about 2 mos .; also July 21, '80, enl. for 6 mos .; also old receipt in town papers for "six shillings for carrying my Pack from Ashfield to Benningtown." Barnabas or Bernice McNitt, reported 8 mos. man.
Caleb Packard, service 15 days; enlisted from Bridgewater, (moved to Spruce Corner). Joseph Ruggles Paine enl. July 10, '77; service 30 days. Daniel Perkins died in the service aged about 25. Eliab Perkins, Aug. '77, service 5 days; Bennington. Timothy Perkins enl. Sept. 22, '77; service about 1 mo .; died in a military hospital in N. Y. Benjamin Phillips, in list of officers chosen May 3, '76; April 19, '75, in service 5 days; also April 27, '75, in service 3 mos. 11 days; afterwards reported as having gone to Quebec; mentioned as captain at Ticonderoga and elsewhere; also mentioned in Phillips' Genealogy as pris- oner at Quebec for a while. Caleb Phillips enl. Dec. 10, '77; in service most of the time for 2 yrs. Daniel Phillips, in service through summer of '75; afterwards enlisted for 3 yrs. Elijah Phillips enl. Sept. 17, '76; 120 miles mileage allowed. Elijah Phillips, age 16; enl. July 19, '79, for 9 mos. Pierce Phillips, Aug. 7, '80; service 6 days. Thomas Phillips, in service summer of '75; enl. May 7, '75. Ziba Phillips, '78, a 9 mos. man.
Francis Ranney enlisted from Connecticut. Moses Rawson enlisted from Grafton, April 26, '77, for 3 yrs .; lived just over the line in Buckland; buried in Northwest cemetery. Zepha- niah Richmond enlisted from Taunton; service 2 mos. 20 days from Dec. '76. Benjamin Rogers enl. Sept. 22, '77, dis. Oct. 18, '77. Henry Rogers enlisted several places; in last part of war, from Ashfield; died in the service. John Rogers enl. Jan. 9, '77 for 3 yrs.
John Sadler, age 18; term 8 mos .; also July 21, '80; service 2 mos. 25 days. Elias Sawyer enl. Aug. 17, '77; dis. Aug. 21, '77. Jonathan Sears enlisted from Harwich, July 10, '75; service 6 mos. 7 days; also served in Capt. Bangs' Co .; also three more enlistments to Sept. 7, '78; moved to Cape Street.
Paul Sears, July 10; service 38 days. Richard Sears. Roland Sears, April 20, '75, service 5 days: April 26, '75, service 3 mos.
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11 days; also Aug. 17, '77; dis. Aug. 21, '77. Asa Selden, age 28; July 21, '80, service 4 mos. 28 days. Azariah Selden, July '78, 19 days' service; also one other enlistment. Isaac and Jesse Selden, June 25, 1779, service 5 mos. 6 days. Joseph Shaddock, 6 mos. man for 1780; also enl. Sept. 22, '77; dis. Oct. 2, '77. Daniel Shaw enl. April 22, '77 for 5 days; then reënlisted for the summer; afterward enl. for 3 yrs. Charles Simpson. Elisha Smith, muster roll at Ticonderoga, Feb. '77; on command at the mills; also Jan. 6, '77, service 80 days; also enl. Aug. 17, '77; dis. Aug. 22, '77. Ebenezer Smith, also in old French War. Enos Smith enl. July 10, '77; dis. Aug. 12, '77; service in Northern department. Jedediah Smith, age 26; July 19,'80, 6 mos. man. Jonathan Smith, age 19; July 21, '80, enl. 6 mos. Joseph Smith enl. Aug. 17, '77. Moses Smith, not able to locate in state list but Mr. B. Howes reports him as killed. Nehemiah Smith, age 16; enl. July 21, '80, service 2 mos. 29 days; also enl. April 7, '81, 3 yrs. Preserved Smith- Mr. Ellis says he entered service in '75 when only 16-records give Dec. 23, '76; service 100 days; reported on command at blockhouse, this at Ticonderoga; also May 10, '77; dis. July 8, '77; also Aug. 17, '77; dis. Aug. 21, '77; also Aug. 26, '77, service 3 mos. 23 days. Simeon Smith enl. May 4, '75, service 3 mos. 3 days. Benjamin Sprague enl. May 8, '75, service 1 mo. 12 days; also afterwards enl. for 8 mos. Nehemiah Sprague, 5 days in service April 22, '75, on Lexington alarm; also 3 mos. 11 days through the season of '75; also enl. Sept. 22, '77; dis. Oct. 18, '77. Jonathan Sprague enl. July 10, '77; service 38 days. Laban Stetson enlisted from Abington on Lexington alarm; also four other short enlistments to 1780; (Moved to Spruce Corner where he was buried.) Lemuel Stocking, age 21; was in service in '77; also enl. July 1, '80 for 6 mos.
Ezekiel Taylor enl. May 10, '77; dis. July 8, '77; also enl. Aug. 17, '77, in service 3 mos. 20 days. Jasher Taylor, in service through season of '75; also engaged May 16, '81 for 3 years. Stephen Taylor, age 17; July 19, '79, engaged for 9 mos. Jona- than Taylor enl. July 10, '77, service 30 days; also enl. Sept. 22, '77; dis. Oct. 16, '77. Jonathan Taylor, Jr., enl. Sept. 22, '77; dis. Oct. 18, '77; also enl. July 20, '77, service 30 days. Henry Taylor enl. Dec. 23, '76 to Mar. 23, '77; also Aug. 17, '77 to Aug. 22, '77; also Sept. 22, '77 to Oct. 2, '77; also 9 mos. man in '78. Jason Taylor, 9 mos. man in '78. Stephen Taylor, 2nd, age 20; in '80 engaged for 3 mos. David Vincent, July 1, '77; served 5 mos., 19 days; enl. from Cape. (Moved to Ashfield, Northwest.)
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Asa Wait enl. May 10, '77; dis. July 8, '77. Elijah Wait. Caleb Ward enl. June 17, '75; service 1 mo. 17 days. Daniel Ward enl. Aug. 17, '77; dis. Aug. 21, '77. John Ward, age 59; enlisted for Buckland July 2, '80, for 6 mos. Joseph Warren enl. July 10, '77; dis. Oct. 18, '77. Timothy Warren, age 19; in 1780 enlistment for 6 mos .; '81 enl. 3 yrs. Cornelius Warren, not on state list, but Mr. B. Howes reports him as killed. Luther Washburn enl. May 13, '75, service 2 mos. 24 days; also April 22, '79, enlisted for the war. Isaac Washburn, April 22, '75 to April 26, '75; also enl. April 27, '75, service 3 mos. 11 days; also 3 mos. at Ticonderoga. Samuel Washburn, the 5 days' service after Lexington alarm; also 3 mos. 11 days that season. Joshua Whelden, in service, season of '76; also enl. Sept. 22, '77; dis. Oct. 18, '77. Stephen Warren. Jonathan Yeomans.
CHAPTER XIV
CEMETERIES
The "History of the Connecticut Valley" and the Ellis book both assume that the Baptist Corner Cemetery is the oldest in town, but there does not seem to be proof that the first burial in the town was there. Jane Phillips, wife of Richard Ellis, died in 1760 and the Ellis monument in Beldingville bears testimony to her burial here. A letter of Aaron Smith of Stockton, N. Y., in 1851, to his cousin Ziba, quoted in the Ellis book, page 402, writes of a sister of Chileab being the first person buried in the Baptist burial ground. By looking at the births given in the Smith genealogy it seems highly probable that this burial was subsequent to that in Beldingville. It is quite possible that both the Beldingville and Plain Cemeteries were occupied before that in Baptist Corner. In 1767, a child of Jonathan Lilly was buried back of where the meetinghouse was to stand on the Plain. A small stone still standing marks the spot. December 17, 1769, in town meeting it was "Voted to purchase a piece of land by the meeting house for a Burying Place; also voted and chose Mr. Nathan Wait and Capt. Moses Fuller and Timothy Perkins a committee to purchase and lay out a burial place." In 1770, they purchased an acre and a half of land of Silas Lillie for 30s. This plat was the northwest corner of Lot No. 18 and was what is now the old part of the Plain burial ground. The frame of the church had been put up here in 1767, so it was decided that the burial ground must be near the church, as was the custom in those days.
In 1772, it was voted to purchase a burial place of Chileab Smith for 12s. 6d .- this the Baptist Corner yard.
Many of the older graves in the three yards are unmarked save by small rough stones without names or dates. The grave of Richard Ellis, the first settler, is marked by a substantial monument erected in the Beldingville grounds by the Ellis family in 1887. The grave of Thomas Phillips, the second
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HISTORY OF ASHFIELD
settler of the town and brother-in-law of Richard Ellis, is un- marked, but some of the Phillips descendants claim that it is directly back of the Ellis monument in the next row to the east. Heber Honestman, the negro who was one of the fifteen original members forming the Congregational Church, died in 1768 and was doubtless buried here.
Samuel Nightingale was refused burial here because he was believed to be a wizard and in league with the devil. He was buried about forty rods east of the cemetery near the foot of a large chestnut tree-now going to decay-in the edge of the first small ravine in what is now Mr. Kendrick's pasture. Dr. Ellis says of him, "One of the first settlers was Samuel Nightin- gale. His cabin was on the north side of the road, the back of which was built up against the face of a large rock. Nightingale was an emigrant from England, and was a man of uncommon learning but, withal, so queer in his ways that he was counted a wisard." This rock can be seen from the highway on the east- erly side of Bellows Hill some fifty rods west of the Jesse Hall house. John Nightingale, probably a relative, bought land herc in 1743 and had a house on the top of the hill by the road leading to the old corn mill. Nightingale is a common name in the early history of Braintree. The place where this recluse led his hermit life, and the place of his burial, was once pointed out to the writer by the grandfather of Leon Hall. The only apology that can be made for our ancestors for thus ostracising this man from his fellows in life and in death, is that they still believed that witchcraft was from his Satanic majesty and they desired to be on the safe side and avoid contamination.
Among the oldest stones here are those of Richard Ellis, Jesse Ranney, Reuben Ellis, John Ellis. These last three were Revo- lutionary soldiers.
There are many unmarked graves in the Baptist Corner Cemetery. The graves of the thrce Chileabs near together are pointed out, but are unmarked. Unless something is done to mark the spot, in a few years the location will be unknown. Several others of the Smith family who were Revolutionary soldiers are buried here. John Alden and Japheth Chapin werc
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also soldiers. The last named has no stone, but an iron marker at his grave. The Shepards, Lyons and Elmers are also here. The stone of the grandfather of Mary Lyon on her mother's side has this inscription: "In memory of Deacon Isaac Shepard, who departed this life May 13, 1802, aged 69 years.
A husband dear, a father kind, A pious heart, a patient mind; He's left all things below in peace, And gone we trust, where sorrows cease. His body rests beneath this bed Till Gabriel's trump shall wake the dead."
The stone of the father of Mary Lyon is also here and has this inscription: "Aaron Lyon, died Dec. 21, 1802, aged 45.
A loving husband, kind and true,
A tender father was, also; A faithful son, a brother dear, A peaceful neighbor was while here. Though now his body here doth rest, We trust his soul's among the blest."
This cemetery has been sadly neglected, but a movement for its improvement has lately begun which it is hoped will be con- tinued. The resting place of the man who so strenuously re- sisted religious oppression, and the ancestors of Mary Lyon should not be forgotten.
In the back part of the Plain cemetery there are many un- marked graves. Among the oldest inscriptions here arc Isaac Crittenden, 1773, aged 74; Wm. Ward, 1778, aged 63; John Saddler, 1781, aged 63; Isaac Taylor, 1786, aged 76; Dr. Phineas Bartlett, 1799, aged 54. The stone at the grave of Phillip Phillips, Esq., is broken off and partly buried in the earth. It should be rescued by his descendants.
In 1860, Mr. H. S. Ranney bought of Henry Paine and the heirs of Samuel W. Hall a little over an acre of land west of and adjoining the old cemetery, had the wall removed and the plot regularly laid out into avenues and burial lots 20 ft. by 10 ft., which were put on sale for $3 each for family lots, thus establish- ing system and order, of which before there had been but little.
After the organization of the Ashfield Burial Ground Asso- ciation, they bought in 1890 this plot of ground for $150 of Mr.
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HISTORY OF ASHFIELD
Ranney, he reserving the lots already sold. In 1893, they bought of Mrs. Miranda Alden two acres more on the west, making now about five acres in the whole cemetery. The grounds have been well laid out and in the main the lots are well cared for, so that the condition of the cemetery is a credit to the town.
The Northwest Cemetery is located in a lonely spot in a pasture owned by Clinton Wing in the northwest part of the town, and was laid out before 1800. People express surprise that such a place should have been selected, but at that time there was a road, a portion of which can now be traced, running from David Williams', now F. H. Smith's, over the hill westerly directly past this spot and then on by Israel Williams', now W. S. Williams' house. The oldest headstone here is that of Thomas Howes, 1793, great-great-grandfather to Allison, Albert and Abbott Howes. But few people have been buried here since 1850, excepting Mrs. Ruth Taylor, aged 99, who was buried there in 1867. The lot contains a little over one-fourth of an acre. There are about fifty graves with probably one-fourth of them unmarked. This isolated spot was seldom visited; a por- tion of the wall around it had fallen down so that cattle ran over the yard, and bushes and ferns were growing over it.
In 1906, Zebulon B. Taylor of Tacoma, Washington, whose boyhood days were spent in this Northwest school district, and whose parents and other relatives were buried in this yard, visited the place and decided upon a change. A substantial wall was relaid around it, the bushes cut or torn up and the ground manured and reseeded.
A quit claim deed of the yard and the right of way to it was secured conveying it to the Ashfield Burial Ground Association. Mr. Taylor employed Mr. George Howes, one of the oldest residents in that section, to obtain as far as possible a list of those buricd in the unmarked graves. The next year, he came again and erected a substantial bronze monument about eight feet high, with the names of all those buried in the yard inscribed upon it. He also had a smaller monument placed over the graves of his parents. Over $1,000 was expended in making the change.
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CEMETERIES
Among the names on the larger monument are Zephaniah Rich- mond, Ebenezer Forbes, Oliver Rawson, a Revolutionary soldier who saw much service, and Peter Wells, after whom Peter Hill was named. His inscription reads, "Peter Wells died 1829 aged 95 years. A colored man brought from Africa and held until the Royal Government ended."
Mr. Taylor died in Los Angeles, California, in May, 1909, and left by his will a legacy of $1,000 to the town of Ashfield, the income of which is to be applied to the perpetual care of the Northwest Cemetery.
The Spruce Corner burying ground was laid out about 1790. The wife of Capt. Elisha Cranston was buried there in 1792, Jonathan Cranston in 1799, Capt. Elisha Cranston in 1804, and Lot Bassett in 1835. The families of Jenkins, Beals, Dyers, Stetsons and Fords, settlers from Abington, are buried here. There are graves of at least eight Revolutionary soldiers in this small yard.
The cemetery on the hill or "Flat" was laid out in 1813 on land bought of Dr. Enos Smith. Its north line was about three rods south of the meeting house which was being built that year. The first person buried here was Alanson Lilly, 1814, son of Captain Bethuel and grandson of Jonathan, whose child was the first buried in the Plain ground. Two of the early ministers, Rev. Nehemiah Porter and Rev. Alvan Sanderson, also the early magistrates, Esquires Williams, Paine and Bassett, are buried here.
The stone of Abner Kelley, who died Feb. 25, 1825, aged 76, bears this quaint and original inscription:
"An apoplectic seisd my powers When I was not expecting death; The conflict lasted twenty hours, And then I yielded up my breath."
The hearse house stood in the northeast corner of the yard,- painted black-a conspicuous object.
After the removal of the church in 1856, the cemetery was enlarged to its present capacity, and the new part has been kept in a manner creditable to the owners of the lots.
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HISTORY OF ASHFIELD
The Briar Hill cemetery was laid out about 1820. The oldest marked stone is 1828. The earlier Grays, Smiths, also the Blakes and the Knowltons, two prominent familics of the town, are buried here. This yard has been kept in good order by the people of the neighborhood.
It was formerly customary when there was no cemetery in the vieinity, to have a family burial ground. Heman Howes and some of his deseendants were buried on the summit of the knoll about thirty rods northeast of the house where Myron L. Howes now lives, but the remains were afterwards moved to the Plain cemetery. Howard Edson was buried in his mowing lot, about twenty rods southwesterly from the Edson house now owned by Dana L. Graves. These remains were also removed to the Plain cemetery. A few graves of the Edson family are in the lot a few rods westerly from where Freeman Barnes lives. David Howes and wife with a few others are buried near the junetion of the two roads at the top of the hill easterly from the South Ashfield post office. A few of the earlier Guilfords were buried on the Petermann place on the old road about three- fourths of a mile southerly from South Ashfield.
Seventy-five years ago there was a yard in what is now the mowing lot of Charles Lilly where about thirty people were buried. No stones were up and in the course of time the grounds were smoothed over by the plow and no trace of it now remains. Joshua Knowlton, grandfather of Nathan and Joshua, was buried here. When the "Vital Statisties of Ashfield" are pub- lished, the column designating the place of burial will be marked with many an "Unknown."
Some sixty years ago a stranger visiting the town wrote to a Greenfield paper, "During our walks about the place, we strayed into the village burying ground, but found there sueh a collection of unmarked graves and broken grave stones that made us hope we should never die in Ashfield. There was, however, another yard on the hill, but the hearse house near it was so hideously painted we dared not enter."
In 1862, the town voted to relinquish all claim the town had on Lot No. 54 for use of the cemetery. Lot No. 54 was sehool land and included the cemetery on the hill.
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CEMETERIES
In 1860, mainly through the efforts of Mr. John Sprague, the South Ashfield Cemetery Association was organized, about two acres of land purchased, and a ground well laid out.
In 1875, in town meeting it was voted, "To raise $75 to put the cemeteries in town in good condition" and a committee was chosen for that purpose.
In 1887, the Ashfield Burial Ground Association was formed and in 1SS9 forty-one of the leading men of the town, headed by Chauncey Boice and Charles Eliot Norton, petitioned the Legislature for an act of incorporation. It was granted that winter, giving the Association full corporate powers to perform the duties contemplated and giving it authority to hold real and personal estate to the amount of $10,000. Chauncey Boice was elected president and A. D. Flower secretary, with five directors. After Mr. Flower's removal from town, Alvan Hall was chosen secretary and treasurer. After his deccase, J. M. Sears was chosen and continued in that office until 1909, when he resigned and A. W. Howes was chosen in his stead. After the death of Mr. Boice, his son Sanford was chosen president in his place.
In 1893, the town deeded to this Association all its right and title in the old cemetery on the Plain and quit claim deeds have been secured from parties owning land adjacent to the Spruce Corner, Baptist Corner and Northwest cemeteries.
This organization is supposed not only to have an interest in all the cemeteries of the town, but is a medium by which people can insure perpetual care for individual lots. Thus, a person leaving by will $50 or $100 to the Association for the care of his lot is supposed to have the income of that sum, as far as needed, expended annually in keeping his lot in good con- dition. The Association has received over $2,000 for this purpose. It was formed at the suggestion of Professor Norton, and has done, and is still doing, excellent work.
The early arrangements for funerals were very primitive. It is related that one of the early settlers of Cape Street, Eld- ridge by name, lost his young wife soon after settling here and was obliged to make the coffin himself.
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HISTORY OF ASHFIELD
For a time the town took up the undertaking business. In 1840, it was voted to buy a hearsc and build a hearse house, also to have sextons for all cemeteries. A hearse house was accordingly built as has been stated, in the corner of the burial yard on the hill. It was about twelve feet square, painted black with white trimmings. In 1842, it was voted to pay for coffins and other funeral charges, and in 1844 voted to buy elliptic springs for the hearse.
The first town contract for coffins was made with Jonathan Lilly, who made them for many years. Afterwards they were made by Cyrus N. Howes. The contract was for a pine coffin properly stained, lined with cambric, with the initials and age of the deceased made with brass nails on the inside of the lid. If an extra coffin was desired, one of cherry or black walnut, this was paid for by friends of the deceased. In 1847, the total of funeral expenses, viz., a common coffin, digging and covering grave and going with hearse, averaged $8.50.
The sexton, besides ringing the bell at noon and 9 P. M., was required to toll it at each death and then strike the age of the deceased person. In the first place the bell was rung for about five minutes to attract the attention of those within its sound, then it was tolled about half a dozen strokes with an interval of a minute between each. The age was then struck, with a brief pause between each ten. The bell was also tolled at a burial when it was to be near the church, beginning when the pro- cession came in sight and continuing until the ceremony at the grave was completed. Undertakers and funeral directors had not then been thought of, neighbors and friends performing the kindly offices needed.
CASUALTIES
Dr. Shepard gives quite a full account of the drowning of five persons in 1827. The place where the boat was overturned was where the water is quite deep between the lower end of the pond and the Buckland road. About the time of the accident the stage with its load of passengers drove into the village and stopped at the hotel to change horses. One of the passengers,
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CEMETERIES
a young man, hurried to the pond, threw off his clothes, dove down and brought up all the bodies, then hastily dressing, he left the town with the other passengers. In the excitement no one learned his name or residence, and the tradition of the heroic deed comes down to us with the actor unknown.
Dr. Shepard speaks of the funeral being at the house of Dea- con Lyon. He lived where Addison Graves now does, and it is said that the services were held out of doors, with the five coffins arranged on the green lawn in front of the house. Dea. David Lyon was an uncle of Mary Lyon, who had been a student and a teacher here. We give this extract from a letter written by Miss Hannah White to Miss Lyon, who was then at Byfield:
I sent you two papers a few weeks since partly as a token of remembrance, and partly to give you a concise account of the late afflictive Providence. If I am permitted again to see you, I shall feel a mournful pleasure in recounting the circumstances of the affecting scene. Your Aunt Lyon reflected great honor on the cause of religion that day. It seems as though there could not be a greater triumph of grace over nature. I believe no one who saw her could refrain from acknowledging she possessed something more than nature can give. My Father bore her the surprising intelligence, which she received with the utmost composure. He first told her of her son, then of Mr. Drake, then of her grandsons, when she replied, "I am feeble, but I can sympathise with my husband in the loss of our family, I will go to him; no doubt it is his wish." He then told her he would carry her up, but she would find her dear husband in the same situation with those he had described. She replied in the words of Job, "The Lord gave" &c, and praised his name that he had left one male member of her family. Your cousin Marshall was one who escaped after the boat upset. He said after one foot rested upon solid ground, he felt the iron grasp of Drake around the other foot, but by a mighty effort he dis- entangled himself. He saw his brother following him, and saw him clasped by his little nephew in the same manner in which they were drawn from the water. This event has caused a general solemnity in town, but we fear it will not be lasting.
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