USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Goshen > History of the town of Goshen, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1761 to 1881, with family sketches > Part 10
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The prices of lands paid by the early settlers here, appear to have been very moderate. A hundred acres of some of the best farms cost less than $75. The late Capt. Grant states that after the lands had become cleared, their price was much higher than at present.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
Wages were quite as low as the prices of land. Four dollars a month and board are given as the price of ordinary labor. Deacon Taylor hired a female teacher, after he came here in 1771, for fifty cents per week, and she boarded herself. In 1804, Maj Stone hired John Hayden, Jr., of Chesterfield, to teach the school in the north- west district, for three months, (probably) and paid $26 as wages for the whole term." In 1794, the wages of an able bodied man per day were about fifty cents, and of a boy in his teens, per month, about $3. The price of an ox at that time is given at $20; a live hog weighing 150 pounds, $4.50; beef, 3 to 5 cents per pound; wheat, per bushel, $1.17 to $1.50; corn, 60 cents; flax, 6 cents per pound; shingles, $1.50 per M; hay, $6 per ton; pasturage for cow, 20 cents per week; for horse, 42 cents. In the way of barter, a bushel of rye or corn was deemed equivalent to a day's work for a man in harvest time.
In ordinary business transactions between neighbors, a frequent settlement of "book accounts" was customary, in accordance with the oft-repeated adage, "Short accounts make long friends." Their accounts were generally closed in this form :- "Reckoned and settled all book accounts, from the beginning of the world up to this date," both parties signing their names.
Stone arrow heads are occasionally found here, indicating the former presence of Indians. In 1840 a stone gouge was found on the farm of Col. Stone, that evidently had been used by them in tapping the sugar-maple, which formerly grew upon the land. Two miles north, the fragments of one of their stone kettles, surrounded by decayed firebrands, was found several years since, another proof that Indians formerly procured their supplies of sugar from this vicinity. Fragments of flint and arrow-heads are found in such quantities as show that considerable time and labor must have been given to making their hunting-instruments in this vicinity.
In 1788, August 19, a tornado or hurricane swept over the central and northern portions of the town. Its course was easterly, not circling like a whirlwind, but' "right onward," leaving the trees, large and small, prostrate in one direction. A person who saw it said the trees bowed before it as if they had been but grass. The frame of the Whitman house (now Emmons Putney's), just raised, was demolished by it, and required new timber in part for its re-erec- tion. Thomas Brown, 2d, then a boy of eight years, with several
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
companions, took refuge in the house where he lived, to avoid the flying rails and missiles with which the air was filled. The house began to give signs of yielding, and Justin Parsons, who was present, disposed of the boys upon that side of the house next the wind, that their weight might keep it from overturning. " The wind passed by," said Mr. Brown, " and all out-doors seemed to be in chaos." The fences were prostrate, the cattle from the pasture running at will through the crops, and the first business of the men was to build temporary yards and gather their cattle into them. The Indian corn was entirely broken down, and would have been ruined had not the corn been so far ripened that the crop was almost entirely saved. In after years the corn was judged to be early or late as compared to the crop at the date of the tornado.
Another tornado following in the track of the other occurred early in the evening of August 14, 1834. Its path was narrow but was filled with ruins. It came with a violent thunder shower which had been gathering for several hours. The barns of Capt. Joseph Nara- more, Hinckley Williams and several others were unroofed. A barn belonging to Willard Packard was leveled to the ground, the old meeting-house was uprooted, the Baptist church was moved several inches upon its foundation, apple and sugar orchards were ruined, and much other damage was done. Mr. Cyrus Stearns of this town, with a little grandson, on his way home from Cummington, was overtaken by the tempest in the woods above Swift River Village, at a point in the highway where it passes almost directly above the river at a height of nearly seventy feet. The wind lifted a portion of the wagon, carrying the man and boy over the fearful precipice. The boy fell to the water, but was taken out living, only to die the next day. Mr. Stearns fell only a portion of the distance and was saved, though severely injured by falling among the trees that lined the precipice. Many remarkable escapes occurred. A man passing near Hinckley Williams' house was thrown from his wagon, and his horse was found in a neighboring field which he must have reached by being carried over two intervening fences. The man himself, a little mystified by the shock, perhaps, said in relating the affair, that the first thing he knew, he lay there beside the wall senseless !
Reference is often made by old people to the death of young Trues- dale, who perished in a snow storm in the early settlement of the ter- ritory. His father, Ebenezer Truesdale, lived on the James farm.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
He had finished sugaring and went to Northampton to return a bor- rowed kettle, and carried a small quantity of sugar. On his return the snow fell in such quantities, although so late in the season, that he lost his way and wandered in the woods till he sank exhausted and died. His bones were found several years after, on or near land now owned by Spencer Tilton, by Thomas Brown while searching for his cows. His foot struck the box in which Truesdale carried his sugar and led to the discovery of his remains. In the same vicinity a man named Bryant (grandfather of Capt., Eli Bryant of Chesterfield) perished on his way through the forest from Ashfield to Chesterfield. His body also was found by Dea. Brown, some months afterward, and was so decayed that it was buried on the spot.
The winters of 1797, 1807-17-27-37-47-57, were singularly alike and remarkable for their mildness. In January, 1837, there was so little snow and frost that some farmers ploughed their fields ..
Wild animals at the first settlement of the town were abundant. The depredations of wolves among sheep were frequent and severe. David Stearns lost nineteen lambs by them in a single night ; Thomas Weeks fifteen at another time; John Smith as many more, and others are named as suffering from the same cause. In 1785 three pounds were paid by vote of the town to Wm. Meader for killing a wolf.
Deer were found in considerable numbers, and were much valued for their flesh and skins. Deer Reeves, annually chosen with other town officers, were required to prosecute those who killed deer con- trary to law in those seasons of the year when they were not in good condition to be eaten.
Catamounts were seldom found. A trapper from Northampton killed one near Dresser's Pond, which is the only one known to tra- dition as being taken here. Wild cats were frequent.
Wild turkies were last seen here about the year 1800; the last bear was killed about 1785, just below the house of Col. Stone. The last deer, evidently a straggler from some northern forest, was shot in the winter of 1828, within thirty rods of the last named place, by Mr. John White of Williamsburgh. It had been followed for a day or two by the hunters and came into the North West district, passing between Col. Stone's house and the bridge into the "nigger pasture," so- called. He soon turned back and went up the sharp hillock over- looking the bridge. Mr. White, standing near the bridge, caught sight of him at the instant, and discharged his rifle, mortally wound-
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
ing him. The deer turned and ran up the river, plunging into the water through an opening in the ice near the line between the Stone and Packard places. He was taken out dead, thrown upon a passing load of wood, and carried off in triumph. In passing the school- house, the pupils, of whom the writer was one,'were given an oppor- tunity to see it-the first they had ever seen, the last ever killed in Goshen.
A lynx of formidable proportions was caught in a trap and killed sixteen years ago by Mr. Moses Dresser.
In the'early years of the settlement here, a gang of counterfeiters carried on their operations in this vicinity. It is said that they had a secret place of resort among the rocks of the forest, that still stretches along the highway between the house of Hiram Packard and the top of the hill eastward.
Suspicion fastened upon a person supposed to belong to this gang, and upon his learning that his arrest was contemplated, he fled to the woods. A light snow in a few days after suggested pursuit, and several men starting out for the purpose soon came upon his track, and soon after upon him. He evidently considered himself in a desperate cause that warranted desperate measures, and drawing a circle in the snow around him, he said, "I will be the death of the first man that stops inside thet line." One of the party, Mr. Ebene- zer Putney, in a twinkling, stepped within the line, put his hand upon the rogue, saying, " you won't hurt me, will you?" Suffice it to say, Putney died a natural death, several years afterwards.
The olden time has many illustrations of conceits, whims and superstitions that were of the parentage of the duk ages. One pop- ular fallacy was, that hernin might be effectually cured by putting the patient through a living ash tree, cleft and parted so widely as to allow the person to be " put through." The trees so clevoted, were not allowed to be afterward cut down, lest the felling of the tree should be the killing of the patient. An Irishman named King had taken a negro boy to bring up that had trouble of the kind named. The cleft tree remedy was recommended and tried, but unfortunately at the moment the boy was fairly within the cleft, the wedges that kept it open suddenly came out, and the collapse of the tree instantly killed him. King left the boy and ran for help, saying to the first man he met : "Mr. Dresser, I've brought death to Cato, but I niver more thought to bring death to Cato than I would to yersilf, sir."
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The honest simplicity of the Irishman saved him from legal trouble, but his remedy for hernia never became popular among his neighbors.
The first apple tree was set out by the wife of Capt. Webster. He brought it from Northampton, using it as a riding stick, and with much effort succeeded in making it grow. It stood just north of the Webster house. In her old age, Mrs. W. becoming deranged, often labored under the delusion that she was away from home, and like most people in that condition sadly bemoaned her imaginary ab- sence. Her attention called to that tree would immediately reassure and quiet her.
The first and only slaves ever owned here belonged to James Pack- ard. He inherited them upon the death of a relative, and took measures for their disposal, preferring personal property of a differ- ent character, Before completing his negotiations, however, Massa- chusetts became a free state and her slaves free men. There were nine of them, and Packard realized the truth of the old proverb, "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," and long mourned the mysterious Providence that prevented his becoming a rich man at the poor negroes' expense. Philip Allen, one of the number, was several years a citizen of the town, and lived near Maj. Stone's. The lot of land he owned and occupied, still retains the name of "Nigger pasture."
The Shays' rebellion found sympathy here, and one man to join the insurgents. Major Josiah Lyman, afterward a citizen of this town, was under Gen. Shepherd when they met the insurgent troops at Springfield. His two sons, Aaron and Giles Lyman, had charge of and fired the cannon used on the occasion. Maj. Lyman related that the order, on meeting the insurgents, by Gen. Shepherd, was first given to fire at their right, in the hope of intimidating them. But this having no effect, the order was then given to fire at their left. This also failing, the order followed, "Aim at their center, and the Lord have mercy on them." The result is too well known to need repetition. The person from this town who participated with the re- bellious party, it is said, met with a narrow escape, the men who were shot standing each side of him.
The statement was made a few years since, that two young men lost in the woods travelled all night without finding their way out. In the morning it was discovered that they had travelled circles each a
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few rods within the last, which is the usual experience of persons in similar circumstances. This is a singular fact that has not been sat- isfactorily explained. The writer, in his boyhood, with a younger brother, once undertook while blindfolded, to cross in a straight line a large field smoothly covered with snow. Every attempt was a fail- ure, the path made being an arc of a circle. The divergence from a straight line was to the left. The conclusion drawn from this fact was that the right foot in an unrestrained movement makes a little longer step than the left foot makes. If this theory be correct, per- sons lost, "turned around." as it is usually expressed, would be likely to make their circuit in the same direction, to the left from a right line.
A writer in one of the Boston papers, referring to the above fact and its explanation, stated that the turning to the left and travelling in a circle was confirmed by his observation, but he knew of a single exception,-that of a man lame in his right leg, who, being lost in the woods, travelled in a circle, but turned to the right. The lame leg seems to have taken the shorter step and reversed the process by which the circle was produced.
It is a popular belief that lightning will not strike a beech tree. In a thunder shower in this town a few years ago a beech, and maple standing near together, with branches interlocking each other, received the electric bolt, which shattered the maple and passed into the earth through a prostrate hemlock tree lying near, which was stripped of its bark nearly. the whole length. No trace of the light- ning was left upon the beech.
Friction matches, invented in 1829, made their appearance in this vicinity sometime after 1830, but were not generally introduced for several years afterwards. They were called, for some unknown rea- son, "locofoco " matches, and sometimes " lucifer " matches.
In 1835 the former expression became the nick-name of a political party. At a meeting of the New York Whigs, the Democrats, in order to obtain possession of the hall where it was held, blew out the candles, and after the Whigs had left the building, relighted them with these matches. Thence the name Locofoco was given to the Democrats, and borne by them for about thirty years.
Before the introduction of matches it was customary to keep the fire over night, by burying it carefully in its place in the heated ashes. A solid piece of wood, or better still an old dry hemlock knot which
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then abounded in the fields and woods, were considered best for preserving the fire. Sometimes the fire would go out during the night, and none be found in the morning for kindling another. Various devices were resorted to for obtaining a new supply. The tinder box, with its flint and steel and stock of charred linen, called " tinder," and the old time musket lock and powder, were the most available means for producing the needed fire. A small boy, if neighbors were not over half a mile distant, was the more popular medium for obtaining the desired element, though, in justice to the boy, it should be said, that this method was never popular with him -it came too early in the day. To get up out of a warm bed between break of day and sunrise, on a snowy or rainy, or bitter cold morn- ing, and go for a few coals of fire to a distant neighbor's, had little romance or fun in it.
The general introduction of stoves in those years, lacking as they were in fire-keeping qualities, made some more expeditious means of producing fire a necessity, which the invention of matches supplied.
The town has had its due share of fatal accidents.
Nahum Putney, son of Ebenezer Ist, went out to Ohio about 1815, and was drowned in Lake Erie, while trying to rescue another from the same fate.
James, son of Capt. Edward Wing, was drowned June 7, 1797.
Two sons of George Stephenson, Frank aged eight, and Fred aged ten, his only children, and Herbert, son of Henry T. Godfrey, were drowned while bathing in Hawks' pond, below the Reservoir, July 19, 1864.
H. Wright Williams, a young man of much promise, son of Hinck- ley, a member of the Junior class of Amhierst College, was killed by the kick of a horse, August 25, 1864.
A Mr. Eddy, in the employ of C. C. Dresser, was killed in a simi- lar manner several years before.
Philip Willcutt was killed June 19, 1845, by the falling of a tree.
Ezra Carpenter died May 10, 1863, in consequence of a fall from a hayloft.
Frederick Parsons, son of Theodore, while temporarily residing in Williamsburgh, was found dead in the barn, where, after feeding his horse, he had fallen into a deep manger in such a manner that he could not extricate himself.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
The "Burying-ground" originally consisted of about two acres of land, set off from the northern extremity of Lemuel Lyon's farm; at what time is unknown. The first person that was buried here was named Nelson. The earliest death recorded upon any monument, is that of the first wife of Joshua Abell, Aug. 29, 1774. In 1776 no deaths appear to have occurred. William White lost three children by the black canker in 1788, in five days, and another within the month.
In 1815, a fever of fatal type prevailed and numbers fell victims to it.
In 1824, another malignant fever desolated many families. The victims chiefly resided upon the west side of the street passing through the center of the town, while every family upon the east side escaped, without a case of sickness.
In 1803-4-'31-'44-'52, the scarlet fever repeated its visits and its work of destruction among the young.
In 1794 the town was visited, as it previously had been by the small-pox, and Abigail, daughter of William Hallock, and wife of Rev. Mr. Chapin, was its first victim. It was soon checked, but it again appeared in 1797, to such an extent that the schools were closed to prevent its spreading. A committee of the town were ap- pointed to adopt precautionary measures, and the house of Justin Parsons, which had been used for the same purpose in 1777, and that of Ebenezer Putney, were devoted to the use of those who were inoculated with the disease. About one hundred and thirty persons were inoculated and sent to these houses, till the artificial disease should run its course, and render them proof against the attack of the disease in its "natural way." These persons were kept on a diet of bread and molasses, to the entire exclusion of all salt and meats, which are said to aggravate the disease to a fatal degree. Tirese per- sons appear to have had a pretty good time on the whole, and re- sorted to various amusements to break up the monotony of their re- tired life, as they were allowed no communication with the outer world, except through the committee who had charge of them. In the house of Justin Parsons they " pitched coppers " so much upon a portion of the floor of one of the rooms, as to wear it nearly through, which may be seen to this day.
The first white slab erected in the cemetery was in 1804, over the grave of Alvan Stone. Those previous to this date, and many after,
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were mica slate. The most costly slab of marble is the monument of Capt Thos. Weeks, who died in 1817. The first monumental shaft erected was to Frederick P. Stone, in 1841. Since that time several have been added.
Seven clergymen, Rev. Samuel Whitman, Elder Isaac Child, Abel Farley, Frederick W. Burgess, Rev. Wm. Willcut, Rev. T. H. Rood and Rev. Townsend Walker, rest here; also four physicians, Benja- min Burgess, Ellis Coney, George M. Burgess, Daniel Pierce ; and six magistrates, William White, Oliver Taylor, John Williams, Timo- thy Lyman, Benj. White, Luther Stone.
Near the center of the cemetery, with no monument to mark the spot, are the remains of Sarah, a daughter of the renowned President Edwards of Northampton, and wife of Elihu Parsons of Stockbridge. Her son, Elihu Parsons, at whose side she is buried, removed here and brought her to reside with him, which she did till her death, which occurred May 5, 1805, at the age of 76. Dea. Stephen Par- sons, son of Elihu, Jr., was her grandson. His daughter, Eunice, was the first wife of Freeman Sears of this town.
The wife of Elihu Parsons, Jr., Rhoda Hinsdale, who is buried at his side, was the first English child born in Lenox, Berkshire Co.
The names of those serving as sextons, still recollected, are Thomas Lyman, Richard Beebe, Hollan Hubbard, Henry T. Godfrey, and Augustus Manning, now acting in that capacity. Mr. Hubbard officiated in that capacity for a period of more than thirty years, assisting at the burial of more than two-thirds as many persons as were living in the town at the close of his term.
Near the extreme eastern part of the town, on the old road to Wil- liamsburgh, is another burying ground, used in the early history of the town, where a considerable number of persons was buried.
The town has been quite free from fires-an encouraging feature to interested insurance companies. One of the first buildings burned was the house of Ebenezer Putney, said to have taken from a candle coming in contact with newly dressed flax.
Oliver Taylor lost, March 6, 1796, a barn and shop by fire, sup- posed to be the work of an incendiary.
A barn of Capt. James was burnt-cause unknown.
A barn belonging to Dr. Burgess was burned January 30, 1802. A boy living with him, named Gideon Clary, was the incendiary, and was sentenced to jail for five years. He conducted himself so well,
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that by advice, the jailor left open his cell door that he might escape. He went off, but voluntarily returned to his prison quarters.
Phinehas Manning's house was burnt about 1804.
Cyrus Lyon's house was burnt about 1812.
The mill of John Williams, 2d, below the Reservoir, was destroyed by fire.
The barn of Arvin Nash was struck by lightning, and consumed, July 25, IS41.
The house and barn of Dea. Town were destroyed in the same manner in July, 1848.
The buildings on the Greenwood Brown farm, were burnt May 16, 1840, set fire by children, in the absence of their parents.
The Silas Burgess house, about 1841; L. Stone's mills, March, 1846 ; Peregrine White's house and barn, on the Benjamin Tilton place, March 4, 1850 ; Ralph Utley's barn, March 16, 1851; C. C. Dresser's mill, March 12, 1861 ; J. Hawks' hotel, Oct. 31, 1867.
In 1854, there were fourteen persons in town above the age of 80 years, and three of this number were above 90. Their names and ages were as follows :-
Mr. Jared Hawks, aged So years.
Mrs. Deborah Williams,
So "
Mr. Gershom Bates,
80
Mrs. Malachi James, 82
Mr. Reuben Smith, 66
S2
Mrs. Anna Williams,
83 ..
Capt. John Grant,
83
Mrs. Abner Damon,
85
66
Mr. George Pierce,
85
Mrs. Geo. Pierce,
85
Mrs. Shepherd Moore,
86
Mrs. Phineas Manning,
90
Mr. Cyrus Stearns, Mrs. John Williams,
90
92
Pamela, daughter of Elihu Hubbard, wife of Dryden Dawes, recently of this town, was born the first day of the week, month and year. She was the first child of her parents, the first grandchild of her grandparents, and the first great-grandchild of her great-grand- parents.
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HISTORY OF GOSHEN.
The first Atlantic Telegraph Cable was laid in the summer of of 1858. The attempt of the year previous failed by the breaking of the cable when only 300 miles had been laid. The announcement, August 16, of the messages between the Queen of England and President of the United States, was an occasion of universal rejoic- ing throughout the country. The ladies of the Congregational Soci- ety in Goshen had arranged for a festival on the 18th of August, for the purpose of raising funds for the repair of their church. Dr. Lewis S. Hopkins and family, with several other Northampton people, mostly ladies, were spending the summer season at Major Hawks's hotel, who entered heartily into the work, and did much towards making it a success. Rev. T. H. Rood delivered an address in the church, entitled " An Englishman's Opinion of the People of Amer- ica." It was of genial humor and wit, and greatly delighted the audience. Original pieces were sung by the choir, one verse of which will give the general sentiment :
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