USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Bernardston > History of the town of Bernardston, Franklin county, Massachusetts, 1736-1900, with genealogies > Part 24
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(So said Israel Slate, November 7, 1857.)
May 7, 1783, mention is made of land on Dry Plain, so called, near the Hackmetack swamp. It was bounded on two sides by land of Chileab Hale, third by that of Dr. Cushman, fourth Mr. Phillips. This swamp was probably the one east of the schoolhouse in dis- trict No. I.
Israel Slate paid a visit in 1783 to his father's old acquaintancies . in Chatham, Ct. Among other places, he stopped at Gideon Hurl- bert's, who had a "dozen children-three daughters, asked leave to keep company with Phoebe,-that was in March ; agreed to go down again ; went in November, stayed three or four days, agreed to marry her, asked leave, saw her again in December, and was married in February. I had a pine table, a pine chest and two old beds; no bedsteads. Moved in where I now live. Had no bed- stead in here for some time." Mr. Israel Slate stated that during the Shays Rebellion, the principal government men in town were his father, Capt. Slate, Capt. Chapin and Esq. Newcomb; that Ma- jor Webster and Lieut. Andrews both had to get bonds. Jonathan Hale, Lieut. Ryther, Joseph Atherton were among the Shays men.
Jason Parmenter of Shay's Rebellion fame, expected to be hung, . and it is said that the night before the appointed day for execution he spent in prayer. When his pardon was read to him at the gal- lows, he was so overcome that he fainted. He was a brother of Elias Parmenter of Gill.
In the Shay's Rebellion were :
Chapin, Caleb, Capt.
Cyrenius.
Nelson, Edward, from the District of Leyden.
Foster, Ezra.
Root, Ezekiel.
Parmenter, Jason, Capt.
255
THE "YORKERS."
The following copy of a letter from John Burke, Jr., to his father may not be uninteresting.
BERNARDSTON, March 14, 1784.
Honored father Sir I Received your letter the ninth Instent which In- forms me that you are well and that you want your horse and Some money in which I had a Very Good Opportunity to Send the horse and money by Mr. Seba Allen I Sent three Gines in Gold.
We are all well and in good helth the winter has been Very Surveer and we was Like to be Short ont for hay and I had an Oppitunity to Sell the Old Oxen and I thought Best to let them go and took the money.
The New State man and Yorkers keep quareling yet One Spicer of this Town Sot out to goo to Gilford with a Yorker and the New State man well Lade the road and Shot Spicer through So that he Died in a few ouers So know more at present So I Remain your Son John Burke Jr.
To MAJOR JOHN BURKE
Boston.
This letter shows that at this date the spelling of the name Burke was with an e final. Up to this, the e was seldom used.
Concerning the tragedy referred to in the letter, Hall's History of Eastern Vermont states that Daniel Spicer of Bernardston, a young man of good repute, started to accompany David Goodenough of Guilford, to the latter town to visit the family of Goodenough, and that Goodenough was a "Yorker"; that they were stopped by soldiers and Spicer killed. A letter from Timothy Church, Wil- liam White, Nathaniel Carpenter and Samuel Bixby, four refugees who had removed to Bernardston, was dated this town March 10, 1784, and by them sent to Gov. Clinton of New York, narrating the murder which occurred March 5, 1784. This letter was also printed in the Massachusetts Spy under date of April 8, 1784.
I am of the impression that Spicer was an inhabitant of that part of the town incorporated that year as the district of Leyden. Of his family nothing has been learned.
November 12, 1785, we find the first mention on record of a per- son being warned from town, notice being then served on Abraham Briggs. In 1797 was warned one Ross, stopping at Samuel Green's and the same year on one Hill "who resides in the house owned by Simeon Hall, lately deceased." January, 1790, there was warned
256
PERSONS WARNED FROM TOWN.
from town Nathaniel Curlice, negro of Providence, R. I., a labourer "who has lately come into town for the purpose of abiding therein and not having gained the town's consent therefor." No further mention is made of him upon the town records, but the suggestion comes that he may have been the "Nat the fiddler," who about 1800 lived on the present Institute grounds. This custom of warning people out of town had its origin in the fact that according to the then existing laws, no one so warned could ever become a town charge, nor were any discriminations made in the practice.
February 9, 1790, Stephen Webster, constable, presented a bill for
36 services, 20 miles travel, 3 . 4.
2€ 8s. od.
Total.
2% IIS. 4d.
in discharge of this. duty of warning persons from town. The list is appended as presenting evidence of the former residence of some of the older inhabitants:
Reuben Parmenter of Sudbury.
William Haws, a transient person.
. Nathan Nichols of Connecticut.
Timothy Wilcox of Greenfield.
Benjamin Cook, a transient person.
Samuel Shattuck of Greenfield.
William Larking, a transient person.
Simeon Alger and Simeon Alger, Jr., both of Connecticut.
Moses Smith, a transient person.
Jeptha Green of Springfield.
Jonathan Huribert of So. Hadley.
Samuel James and Isaac Turner of Charlestown.
Oliver Newhall of Colrain.
David Town of Williamstown.
Captain John Brooks of Connecticut.
Parley Streeter of Guilford, Vt.
William Wise of New Haven, Ct.
Samuel Nichols of Greenfield.
Ebenezer Severance of Greenfield.
William and Jolin Ritter of Luenburg, Worcester Co.
Levi Wells of Greenfield.
Jolın Sanderson, a transient person. .
Thomas Loveland of Greenfield.
John Evans and John Evans, Jr., transient persons. Ephraim Edwards of Guilford, Vt. George Morely of Glastenbury, Ct.
257
TOWN RATE FOR 1787.
Noah Fox of Glastenbury, Ct. William Brooks of Connecticut. Jonathan Rich of Athol. David Squires, a transient person. Joseph Utter, late of Greenfield, labourer. Joseph Wood, late of Greenfield, labourer.
The following town rate made March, 1787, John Burke Collector, gives approximately the names of the heads of families in Bernard- ston proper at that time :
Allen, Sem.
Asaph, Dea.
one poll. two polls.
Hale, Asahel. Elijah.
one
poll.
-
Joseph. one poll.
Kene, Reuben. Leach, Ephraim.
Andrus, Nehemiah, Lt.
Atwell, Oliver.
66
Loveman, Thomas.
Allen, Seba.
Newcomb, Hezekiah. two polls.
Alvord, Joseph.
William. one poll.
Brown, Abraham.
Pinks, John.
Brooks, John, Capt.
Rider, David, Lieut.
Jr.
Bell, John.
Robbins, Lemuel.
Cushman, P. Dr.
three polls.
Ritter, William.
66
Chapin, Caleb, Capt.
one poll.
Root, Samuel.
Couch, James.
Slate, Joseph, Capt. Israel, one-half poll. one poll.
Chapin, Zalmuna. Consider.
66
Sheldon, Elihu.
Chapin, Dr.
Smith, David.
Evans, John.
two polls.
Stebbins, Joseph.
real estate.
Esen, Richard.
one
poll.
Town, David.
one poll.
Euda, John.
Wolley, Thomas.
Fox, William. Noah.
Webster, Stephen. real estate.
one poll.
Foster, Elisha.
Warner, Ichabod.
two polls.
Green, Benjamin, Jr.
Wright, Thaddeus. = George.
one poll.
Hale, Joseplı. 66
Jonathan.
Wood, Samuel.
Chileab. .
two polls.
Whetten, Robert. real estate.
John.
Curlice, Nathaniel. Allen, Widow.
one poll. real estate.
Widow Lucy.
Sanderson, John.
Cunnabell, Saml.
two polls. one poll.
Burk, John.
Cunnabell, Saml. Jr.
Sheldon Remembrance.
Jr.
66
Of several of these it has been impossible to obtain any further record. Presumably they may not have resided here for any great length of time.
258
HISTORIC ITEMS.
At this time the unimproved land belonging to non-resident pro- prietors was as follows:
Joshua Fuller,
No.
75, 28,
Ist. division, 50 acres.
3rd.
66
173, 187, 4th
.6
14, 197,
،،
64
. .
..
Belding. David.
..
71; 45, 156 25,
.. ... 4, 4th. 3rd.
50 50 .50 25
1
May 12, 1788. "Voted to restrain rambs from running at large from September first until the fifteenth day of November."
The first census taken in town was by Mr. David Saxton of Deer- field in 1790, in accordance with an order issued by the Govern- ment. At this time the population was 691 persons, the number of families 108. At that time Leyden contained 991 persons, just 300 more than the parent town. In 1800 the census was again taken. It then contained 780 persons, a gain of 89 in ten years. In 1830 it had increased to 945, and from that time to about 1875, the num- ber fluctuated between that and 990. At no time has it quite reached 1000 inhabitants. It is now considerably less.
· June 20, 1793. "Land on Hoosac Mountain was taxed one and a half penny an acre, to be paid in three months for the purpose of making a road across the grant."
March 17, 1795. "Moses Scott, Jr., carried the chain, his father being blind and confusing thereto."
March 23, 1796. A gentleman came to Boston from Vermont in a sleigh drawn by two large dogs owned by Dr. Cushman of Bernardston. They traveled upwards of forty-five miles daily, and the owner had been offered $50 for them, an offer which he refused .- Gazette.
1798. "Voted to empower the selectmen to provide a pall cloth." This vote was evidently carried out, as a year later we find direc- tions given that it be entrusted to the possession and care of Mrs. Levina Burke.
25 25 20 50 . .
Major Selah Barnard Cook, Noah. ..
259
HISTORICAL ITEMS.
· In the year 1798, there was so great a scarcity of grain that for many weeks-from February until the harvest-the people ate but very little bread, subsisting chiefly upon meat and potatoes.
Friday, February 26, 1802. "Thedwelling house of Ichabod War- ner was consumed by fire together with its contents. A quantity of flax had been placed in a room to dry, which took fire in the absence of the family and set the house in flames immediately. This is the second accident of the kind Mr. Warner has met with."
This house stood a few rods south of the present home of Mr. Albert Warner, in the south-east corner of the home lot. The cel- lar hole is still to be seen.
June 17, 1803. Friday. About 4 p. m. the inhabitants of the north-east part of the town experienced a most violent storm of rain attended with wind, hail, sharp flashes of lightning and tremendous thunder. The clouds rushed together from all quarters in confusion and the rain fell in torrents for about one half an hour. It then began to hail, which fell in such size . and force as to destroy almost all the grain, fruit, grass and vegetables. The hail was adjudged to be half as big as hens' eggs. The farms of the late Deacon J. and T. Sheldon received greater injury from washing than by hail. Have not learned that the inhabitants suffered much by lightning, though it made its way into the top of a tree standing within three rods of Deacon J. Field's house, and taking the grane ran to the roots. A son of Mr. Field standing within 12 paces of this tree was knocked down but re- ceived inconsiderable injury. Remarkable .- Gazette and Courier.
In 1810 it was voted to " Vendue the Town Poor to the lowest bidder," the first mention made of such a proceeding.
In the north-east corner room of the Ryther house is a remark- able specimen of mural decoration which was applied about 1810 to 1815. A man came to town from parts unknown, doing the work in payment for board. He likewise painted the walls in a room of the old Aldrich house opposite the lime kiln site, now torn down, and a room in the Burk tavern. He was here, so far as can be learned, for some months. One day men arrived suddenly from the east part of the State of New York, some say from Albany, de- parting with this man as their prisoner, and it was always supposed that he was arrested as a spy, the War of 1812 being then in progress.
The design upon the Ryther house was painted free hand in
260
HISTORICAL ITEMS.
water colors, or something of a kindred nature, and in blocks or squares, each containing a spray of strawberries with leaves. At the top of the base boards is an arrangement of draped flags done in panel form. Over the fire board is an elaborate representation of Boston harbor with ships, and on the other half, of Boston common. To be appreciated it should be seen. The colors to-day are as fresh apparently, and the walls in as good a condition, as when the work was done nearly a century ago. The design in the old Aldrich house was similar, there cherries being combined with the straw- berry patterns.
Bernardston was represented in the War of 1812 by
Chapin, Cyrenius. .. Gorham. Nightengale, Ebenezer.
Newcomb, Samuel.
Aldrich, Hosea.
Ryther, Alpha, Clerk.
Guellow, David.
Erastus.
Newcomb, Charles Jarvis.
Tryon, Elijah.
October 29, 1812. "Advertised in the Publick Prints of ye day. An Elephant show at Major Webster's Inn. Probably the only chance many will ever have of seeing this great natural curiosity."
May, 1813. "Died in town an Indian ae. about 35." [Unitarian church Rec.]
January 1, 1834. "During the 25 years preceeding, there has oc- curred 302 deaths in town."
"MAMMOTH TURNIP."
"An English Turnip was raifed in the garden of Joseph Conable of Ber- nardfton, in this county, meafuring 46 inches round the middle weighed thirty pounds with the tops attached to it; & when the tops were removed and the turnip wafhed, it weighed 23 pounds !!!! "-Franklin Herald, Tues- day, Nov. 12, 1816.
In 1816 the only place in town where any seed corn was raised was on the Samuel Wright place, at the north end of the Bald Moun- tain road. The next year his seed corn sold at a high price. The summer of 1816 is known locally as the cold summer. It is said that snow flew every month during that year.
On Tuesday, January 20, 1829, a man called at the inn of Henry W. Cushman, in Bernardston. He lodged there that night, and remained
261
CUSHMAN PARK.
ahout there the next day, and again lodged there Wednesday night. Thurs- day morning he was called to breakfast, but did not appear, and Mr. Cush- man went to his room where he found him with his throat cut from ear to ear. He gasped two or three times after the room was entered, and ex- pired. A coroner's inquest was held upon the body-verdict, Fel-o-de-se. The name of the person and his place of residence are unknown. There was nothing about him by which the jury could ascertain, either. His height was about five feet eight inches, his complection light, brown hair, and he appeared to be about 40 years old. His dress was a black coat and pantaloons, striped vest, snuff colored frock coat, cowhide shoes, black fur hat, high crown. He came from the north on foot, with a small bundle done up in a striped cotton handkerchief. No money or papers were found upon him .- Gazette and Herald, Jan. 27, 1829.
In 1836 there were located in town "Two grist mills, four saw- mills, two carding machines and clothier's shops, one factory for making cotton-batting, one card-board factory, three stores, two 'Public Houses,' four churches, one high school, six district school- houses, one harness maker, several shoe-makers, one wagon-maker, one tannery, one scythe snath factory, two shingle machines, one cabinet maker, one blacksmith, three distilleries ; about 160 dwel- lings."
Tuesday morning, June 10. 1856. "Mr. Israel Slate is 94 years old to-day. But four persons have lived in town to his age. James Couch, 99th year. Elijah Kingsley, the eldest, 100th year. Mehit- able Burk, (widow of Major John Burk), ae. 97 when she died. Major Burk's sister, Mrs. Remembrance Sheldon, ae. 97 years. Mrs. Burk was a little the oldest."
Originally the site of the present boarding house-Cushman Hall-and the land adjoining both south and east, was included in one large farm, bounded as at present on the north and west by roadways, one of which was spoken of as the "stage road to Dartmouth College," and the other as the "County road to North- field." On the north side of the latter road, the land was bare of buildings save, possibly, one log hut. The present Institute grounds, on the east side certainly, were covered with a dense growth of pines, whose tops stretched far upward toward the blue above, and whose roots were, many of them, submerged by the waters of the present pond, which then rose much higher than now. In 1760
-
262
CUSHMAN PARK.
there were but seven families living within the limits of District No. 2, the now central part of the village, and the growth of the town during the next thirty years was not sufficiently rapid to lead us to think that the inhabitants had any more than doubled during that time.
Between 1760 and 1762, there appears in town one Samuel Hast- ings. If not immediately, within a few years, probably, he pur- chased the large farm situated south of the so-called County Road, and during the next twenty-five years became quite a prominent man in town affairs. In 1813, being advanced in years, he sold his farm to his son, Rufus. About this time there must have been built upon the present boarding house site, a tannery, which, with the tanyard, occupied about a quarter of an acre, and which was ex- cepted in the 12-acre tract which Rufus Hastings sold, in 1819, to Thomas Snow and Gamaliel Kingsley, who in turn sold it at a later date to the late Lieut. Gov. Cushman, by whom it was given to the town.
During these earlier years, the brook running through the park was not the placid little stream of the present, but was tumultously hurrying along on its course to the pond which was then to be found west of the tanyard, forming two or three little water falls on its way. The outlet of this pond was into the meadow, or rather swamp land, south, as the present meadow land then was. This swamp was covered with a thick growth, largely alders, and was the favor- ite lurking place of the speckled beauties of the brook. People of an earlier generation would have told you that, in the days when "Gill pork " was in common use, it was no unusual sight to see the mothers of the families wending their way to the Fox brook, as it flowed on its course through the present park, and in the falls there firmly secure the salt-fish destined for the family dinner, return- ing in the morning for the fish then freshened.
At the tanyard a busy industry was carried on, and the tan vat proved tempting to the youth of the day, who then, as now, were full of the spirit of mischief, and at least one impromptu bath was taken therein, followed by an unexpected plunging into the pond conveniently situated near by, after which the dripping culprit was sent home to receive the maternal chidings.
263
ROLL OF HONOR.
The first building on the present Institute grounds was probably the log hut built there among the pines between the years 1790 and 1800. The first hint of the occupant of the same is found in the recorded action of the town relative to warning Nathaniel Curlice from town, January, 1790. The town had done its duty and no fur- ther town record of him do I find, but in the year 1800, or therea- bouts, there appears in the hut among the pines, one who was familiarly termed "Nat the Fiddler," a negro whose services as fid- dler were much sought for in the evening gatherings of the young men and maidens of the place. His daily occupation was a prosaic one. Turning his attention to the natural products of his home lot, the tar he produced from the pine trees we may presume to have rivaled the color of his face. Quite a little work did he in his line, but after a few years Nat, the fiddler, disappears, and the only thing we know of him further is contained in the record of death found in the Unitarian church book, under date of August 11, 1818, his age being given as 63 years.
This property on the north side of the County Road was origi- nally a part of the farm of P. L. Cushman, the right which he pur- chased of Medad Pumroy. The present Institute site, after its occupancy by Nathaniel Curlice or "Nat the fiddler," was, in 1821, sold by Mr. Cushman to Theodore B. Hoyt. Mr. Cushman repur- chased the place of Mr. Hoyt, and later sold to Mr. Obed Dickin- son, the next owner of the land, and at the time of the building of the school house the site was purchased by Col. Ferry, John San- derson and the town, the two gentlemen paying $550 out of $750.
The roll of those credited to Bernardston who served their coun- try in the Civil strife :
: "Albett, John. Aldrich, Dwight. J. J. Bagg, Frederick L. Baldwin, Henry. Bartis, Dennis. Benjamin, Quartus W. Boyle, Charles A. Booter, Anson.
Briggs, R. C. Burt, Enos H. Butterfield, Z. A.
Chase, L. P.
Day, Josiah P.
Drury, Mason. Fairman, D. L.
J. C.
Field, Aaron W. Rev.
264
ROLL OF HONOR.
Frizzell, C. O.
Palmer, Willianı.
Gould, C. R.
Quinn, James.
.
Grout, L. B.
Reed, Dwight.
Hale, Francis D.
Scott, Charles T.
Fred.
Dwight R.
George E.
William.
Henry W.
Slate, Charles.
H. J.
Marshall.
James W.
J. S.
John Henry.
F. C.
Lorenzo.
Joseph.
Lucius Cushman.
Streeter, Henry O.
Sheldon, Henry T.
Streeter, L. B.
Sheldon, T. L.
Haskins, George W. A. L.
Michael.
Horton, Herbert G.
Temple, John W.
Huber, Charles.
Thompson, James M.
Hughes, George H.
George.
Hutchins, C. J.
66
W. A.
Hurlbert, Ebenezer H. Lt.
Thomas, I. L.
Johnson, A. N.
Thornily, George W.
Kingsley, A. W.
Vaile, Geoffrey.
Lachore, Edward.
Vanall, William.
Lyons, H. P.
Weatherhead, L. M.
Manning, John.
Walbridge, William H.
McClure, A. T.
Weeks, J. H.
Morrison, B. R.
Wells, George W.
Murphy, Hector.
Wheeler, D. H.
Nash, Joel N.
Woodrough, William.
Newton, E. C.
· George W.
Newcomb, R. F.
Whitcomb, W. S.
Newell, David.
Willey, George A.
Oaks, William F.
Wolf, H. A.
Park, Dwight.
Thompson, A. T."
F. R.
Of these it should be said that some were substitutes and from other places.
In Gov. Cushman's will is the following :-
"After the decease of my said wife, I order and direct that the sum of $10,000 shall be paid to the first town in Massachusetts, of not less than one thousand inhabitants, which shall take and forever retain, by an act of incorporation, by competent authority, the corporate name of Cushman;
Haley, C. O. John.
Harris, Charles C.
Sullivan, Bart.
265
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
but the town of Bernardston may take said legacy as aforesaid, without having one thousand inhabitants; and if no town in Massachusetts shall take said legacy within five years after the decease of my said wife, then any town in the United States of not less than one thousand inhabitants, which shall comply with the conditions of this legacy by taking the name of Cushman, shall be entitled to receive the said sum of Ten Thousand Dollars and the interest that shall have accumulated thereon; said sum to be safely invested in General Government or State Stocks or Bonds, and the annual income and income only, shall be forever used by said town of Cushman for the maintenance and support of a High or Grammar School in said town."
Among the flourishing institutions of the days past there was in Bernardston a "Farmers' Club and Agricultural Library Associa- tion." This was a fully officered association, meeting weekly for discussion and study of the best methods in vogue as pertaining to farming. The members seem to have been enthusiastic, and to have enjoyed exceptional advantages in the way of having talented speakers and lecturers from those who stood high in the State as experts. It was in existence during the years 1859, '60, '61 and '62, surely, and the meetings were largely attended by the citizens and their wives.
Of an entirely different nature is the Bernardston Thief Detect- ing Society, which has now had an existence of 69 years. This is also a society firmly established on a business basis, and which has, as occasion presented, done efficient work within its sphere. An- nual meetings are held, at which officers are elected and necessary business transacted, after which the time is given up to entertain- ment and sociability. The ladies are always present at these gath- erings, and the annual meeting and supper of this society is one of the established social functions of the place.
The following is taken from Gov. Cushman's scrap book and may prove of interest. 1856:
"We learn from the Rochester, N. Y. Daily Union that two splendid locomotives recently placed on the Toledo (Ohio) Wabash and St. Louis R. R., of which road George H. Burrows of Bernardston is Supt. and John E. Carpenter of Bernardston is Paymaster, have been named the 'George H. Burrows,' and 'John E. Carpenter.' Two beautiful headlamps for these locomotives have recently been made at Rochester. Their immense re-
266
ANECDOTES.
flectors are plated with gold over silver and copper, and the cases are hand- somely painted and mounted with brass. On either side of the cases are portraits of the gentlemen whose names the locomotives bear of the size of life, and so accurate that those who know the original will have to take a second look or they may be deceived by the counterfeit. While the above gentlemen were connected with the Rochester and Niagara Falls R. R., they had sent to them daguerreotype likenesses of their fathers, Isaac Bur- rows and Dr. E. W. Carpenter of Bernardston. One night an unknown artist at Rochester got hold of the daguerreotypes, and before morning, painted them as large as life on the head lamp of the locomotive which was to take out the morning train. In the morning the engineer, Frank Burrows, another son of Isaac's, came out to start his machine and in pas- sing the head of it was startled to see Dr. Carpenter staring at him. Upon going around to the other side, his father was seen looking down at him with a stern visage, upon which it is reported Frank was so startled that he took to his heels and it was some time before he could be convinced that they were nothing but painted likenesses of the above gentlemen."
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