USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Hawley > History of the town of Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts : from its first settlement in 1771 to 1887, with family records and biographical sketches > Part 9
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82
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
1881.
Feb. 4, Kate A. Eldridge, March 8, Jane R. Mansfield, March 15, Emeline T. Dodge, April 1, Erastns Mansfield, April 29, Augusta E. Maynard, May 21, Edward M. Field, June 5, Clara Belle Sears, June 20, Abraham Parker, Oct. 9, Rufus C. Sprague. Nov. 3, Bartholomew Scan- · lan, Sept. 18, Susanna Mansfield. No of deaths, 12.
1882.
March 15, Mrs. Betsey R. Hunt, 83, May 22, Mrs. Julia A. Critten- den, 34, May 25, Francis H. King, Dec. 5, Mrs. Gracia R. Williams, Dec. 16, Jonathan Fuller, 90, Dec. 17, Nelson Brackett. No. of deaths 7.
1883.
Jan. 1, Joanna H. Clark, Jan. 21, Arthur A. Turner, Feb. 2, Thad- dens Wood, April 8, Mrs. Abigail Fuller, June 2, Mehitable Stafford, July 28, Emeline Stetson. Aug. 6, Anna Vincent, Aug. 13, Mrs. Harrlet White, 84, Sept. 26, Flora A. Gould, 19. No. of deaths, 9.
1884.
Jan. 7, Heman Hitchcock, 84, March 5, Sarah Brayman, Ang. 4, Jes- sie Staples, June 19, Olive Holden, Oct. 17, Erastus W. Brayman, Jo- siah Archie Barber. No. of deaths, 6.
1885.
Ang. 18, Carrie E. King. Sept. 11, Henry A. Hillman, Sept. 17, Lu- ther Scott, Sept. 22, Ellen Graves, Nov. 10, Lncy Scott, Nov. 21, Ln- cius Scott. Nov. - , Cora M. Turner, Dec. 12, Henry W. King. 8.
1886.
March 19, Horace Dwight Seymour, 24, April 19, Bertie E. Galbraith, 6, May 21, Carrie L. Scott, 16, Ang. 20, Leroy G. Carrier, 4 mos. Ang. 23, Levi Holden, 79, Oct. 9. Silas Dodge, 81, Nov. 6, Sanderson E. Car- ter, 69, Nov. 21, Ira Holden, 88, Dec. 14, Ira Joy, 87, Dec. 17, Arron Gould, 80, Dec. 27, Norman Phillip Kenney, 6 mos., April 15, Weal- thry B. Howes, 18. No. of deaths, 12.
A record has been furnished, showing that the cemetery in the old sixth district was opened in 1827, and that Capt. Luther Rice's child was the first buried there. The record gives the names of 57 buried there, and having been abandoned several years ago, it is evident that nearly a hundred have been buried there.
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HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
MISCELLANIES.
The following record of a meeting of the inhabitants of No. 7, bearing date Feb. 24, 1778, is furnished by Geo. D. Crittenden, having been left in an account book kept by Zebedee Wood, before and after his coming to Hawley. It will be noticed that the date is fourteen years before the incorporation of the town, and it appears that Mr. Wood was clerk of the meeting. The record is given to show the customs adopted by the pioneer settlers, and the disadvantages under which they lived.
Feb. 24, 1778; At a town meeting held at the house of Samuel Hitch- cock, Thomas King, Moderator: Voted Nathaniel Rudd, Samuel Hitch- cock and Thomas King a committee to get the town salt and distribute the same.
Voted, they will do nothing about getting a town stock of powder and lead.
Voted, Thomas King to go and talk with the proprietors and see what they will do about building mills and getting on the rest of the settlers.
Voted Thomas King, Daniel Burt and Nathaniel Rudd committee men to go and see after a council.
Voted to hire preaching this year, and to raise money by subscription to pay the same.
Voted Nathaniel Rudd to draw up a paper and get signers.
Voted to hire Mr. Sherwin to preach.
Voted David Parker to agree with him.
Voted Samuel Hitchcock, Silas Hitchcock and Nathaniel Parker com- mittee men to lay out a highway from Mr. Curtis' to the grant.
Copy of a subscription paper for the support of a school :-
We, whose names are hereunder signed, being disposed to have a school amongst us the ensuing winter, hereby bind ourselves to pay the following sums affixed to our names, provided we can pay the same in the products of the earth. Furthermore, agreed to have Mr. Nash keep an exact account of every day each scholar comes, and if any subscriber in the district does not subscribe his proportion according to what he sends, hereby obligate ourselves to make it up according to what we do send.
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HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
Zebedee Wood,
13 shillings,
Nathan West, 8
Jacob Hunt, 10
Zebulon Benton, 7
Zephaniah Lathrop, 7
Ichabod Hawkes, 8
In 1865, there were living in the old seventh district, which then numbered a population of about 70, thirteen persons who were over 70, eleven being over 75, seven over 80, and one over 90. An issue of the Greenfield Gazette in December of that year gave their names and ages, and we reproduce it, with the addition of the date of death and age.
Ethan Hitchcock,
92
died May 30, 1866, aged
93
Mrs. Esther Longley,
89
Dec. 7, 1886,
90
Daniel Rice,
88
66 Sept. 10, 1867, 90
Mrs. Sarah Rice,
87 Dec. 24, 1867, 66 89
Jolın Taylor,
84
May 13, 1866,
85
John Starks,
82
May 2, 1867,
84
Mrs. Anne Starks,
80
Feb. 3, 1868, 60
83
Mrs. Polly Crittenden,
79
March 19, 1879,
92
Warriner King,
78
66 Feb. 27, 1877,
90
Mrs. Jerusha King,
77
May 30, 1882
66
93
Zachary Hall,
75
Nov. 2, 1878,
87
Jonathan Fuller,
73
Dec. 16, 1882, 66 90
Mrs. Pamelia Fuller,
73
66 April 18, 1868,
76
Copy of a record from an account book kept by Warriner King.
Hawley, Nov. ye 6, 1811.
Then reckoned and settled all accounts with John Starks from the beginning of the world to this date.
Warriner King. John Starks.
On the occasion of the marriage of Rev. Jonathan Grout, Oct. 23, 1795 he made a large register or certificate, neatly and elaborately done in pen printing, at the bottom of which is the following, written as an acrostic :-
Man placed in paradise to live, And formed and aimed for social bliss,
Rejoiced when God a helpmeet gave, Received and owned her, bone of his. In this connection, would men gain All joy which thence might sweetly flow, Good acts reciprocal must prove, Each in their turn should kindness show.
8.5
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
This sheet is in the possession of Mr. Grout's granddaughter, Mrs. C. A. Stebbins, of Deerfield, also two sermons delivered by Mr. Grout. printed in pamphlet form, one on the occasion of a Fourth of July cele - bration in Heath, in 1803, the other at the close of a singing school in Cummington in March, 1811. She has other relics from the ancestral- homestead. also some articles from the Grout family are placed in Me- morial H all.
An Illinois paper of Jan. 14, 1887, reproduces a copy of a poem writ- ten as a letter by Jedediah Lathrop to his brother Thomas. It was orig- inally written April 27, 1829, when he was a clerk in a store, and he dwells at length upon the anticipation of the opening of spring.
The life and character of Zachary Hall demands a space in this work. He oirginated from Ashfield, and in childhood was said to possess an average amount of intellect, but sometime in early life he became demen- ted to a certain extent, and in consequence. became an object of charity, and came upon the town of Hawley. One account says that the cause of his downfall was a religious excitement under which he labored at one time in his youth. For many years he lived with Otis Longley, but upon the purchase of the Town farm in 1851, he was removed there and passed the rest of his life there. Hc had many hallucinations, some peo- ple believing his abilities were better than he assumed, and that his peculiarities were put on for effect. He onee had a sound tooth extract- ed, saying that it once bit his mother, and cut off one of his fingers be- cause it pinched her. Sometimes he would decorate himself in every conceivable style and color of patches on his clothing, sometimes sewing on birch bark. He usually wore a handkerchief tied over his head, as he said, to keep the flies out of his ears. He often spent hours at a time killing flies, by striking them with a little, paddle or narrow shingle, and was a pretty good shot. Occasionally some particular shrub or weed would be the object of his contempt, and he would spend days in des- troying all he could find of that particular species.
One Fourth of July he heated water and put on the Canada thistles which grew in the chip yard near the house. It had the effect of wilt- ing the noxious thistles at the time, but whether the treatment effected a permanent eradication, we are not informed. He was usually harmless, but at times his vagaries assumed a mischievous character, for instance, he once made a yard in an isolated part of the pasture and shut the cows in it, so they were not readily found. A large number of mud of swal. lows annually built nests and reared their young under the caves of the barn and a long shed. One Sunday when the family had gone to church, he knocked down the nests and destroyed the eggs and young birds. Sometimes he was coaxed, and sometimes threatened into submission. At one time he had a severe attack of jaundice, and on asking the pro- prietor what made his skin so yellow, he was gravely informed that it
86
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
was caused by his smoking, whereupon he laid by his pipe and never used it again. Meetings were frequently held in the school house in that neighborhood, and one Sunday morning, the minister being late, he took his seat in the desk and quietly remained until the minister arrived. when he as quietly vacated it.
Sometimes he would run away from home, and on one of these occa- sions, one of the town fathers told him the town bought the farm for his special use, and he must stay and take care of it, which had the desired effect. A long chapter might be written on his eccentricities, but en- ough has been said to give a good description. Suffice it to say that he lived inuch beyond the allotted age of man, and it is believed that he enjoyed life, in his way, to an average degree. It is said in his last sick- ness he realized his condition, and was much more composed at the ap- proach of death than many another He died Nov. 2, 1878, aged 87.
In the early years of the town's history, old Mr. Hale lived a little north of the South Hawley post office. He lived a kind of hermit life by himself, and had some peculiar fancies, among which was the sup- position that he was tormented by evil spirits, and would show fight with his supposed enemies, armed with a pitchfork.
Joseph P. Manning, an eccentric man, lived in Ashfield, and owned thirty acres of land now on the farm of Joseph Hitchcock in Hawley, on which was a small honse where he often stayed for a month at a time, sometimes keeping his cow there. Most people in Hawley who were living thirty years ago will remember him as a kind of local celebrity. He spent much of his time travelling about, carrying a bag of lime and a whitewash brush, occasionally getting a job of whitewashing, having favorite places where he would call for a "dish of tea." He was very erratic in his religious convictions, and sometimes his voice could be heard a mile when he was at his devotions.
The year 1816 was remarkable for its cold suminer. It is said that spots could be seen on the sun. Severe frosts occurred every month; June 7th and 8th snow fell, and it was so cold that crops were cut down, even freezing the roots, but they were replanted. In the early Autumn when corn was in the milk it was so thoroughly frozen that it never ri- pened and was scarcely worth harvesting. Breadstuffs were scarce and prices high and the poorer class of people were often in straits for want of food. It must be remembered that the granaries of the great west had not then been opened to us by railroad communication, and people were obliged to rely upon their own resources or upon others in their immediate locality.
The winter and spring of 1857 presented some peculiar freaks. In February, a succession of thaws, resem bling April weather, carried off nearly all the snow, and considerable maple sugar was made.
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87
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
March did not betray its trust, furnishing the usual complement of cold, snow and wind. April 20 and 21, the ground having been previously bare, a snow storm raged for about thirty-six hours, leaving fully three feet of solid snow on the ground. Travelling was impossible for sevel- al days, and it was believed that had the weather been cold and the snow dry, it would have been six feet deep.
Two notable thunder showers passed over the town within a year of each other. Aug. 18, 1858, near the close of an intensely hot day, a shower passed from southwest to northeast, accompanied with a wind . which assumed the proportions of a tornado, and forests, orchards and buildings were demolished through a narrow strip where the wind was most violent. On the evening of July 2, 1859, a terrific thunderstorm of considerable duration occurred. The damage in this case was caused by water, many of the highways being literally torn in pieces.
The town received its full complement of damage and subsequent ex- penses by the memorable flood which swept like a tidal wave over New England, Oct. 4, 1869.
The early inhabitants were sometimes in terror in consequence of the prevalence of beasts of prey. It is related of the wife of Timothy Baker that at times when her husband was absent from home, it was her cus- tom to shut her children in the house when going after the cow, to pre- vent their straying from the house and being devoured by wild beasts.
Warriner King when a small boy, went to his grandfather's house, a- bout two miles from home, and not returning as soon as expected, his father went after him; meeting him on the way, and not wishing to re- veal the object of his mission or the fears he entertained for his little son's safety, he coolly asked him if he had seen anything of their sheep.
In the spring of 1834, the following families removed from Hawley, the most of them going to Ohio :- Solomon Graves, John Hadlock, Rev. John Breed and Elder Wagner. At that time the "Western Reserve," or "New Connecticut," in Ohio, was just opened and was an objective point to many emigratiug west.
April 20, 1856, the families of Luther Rice, Calvin Rice and Nicholas Dubey removed west, several members of the family having preceded them. Sept. 5, 1857, their parents, Capt. Luther Rice and wife went to join them.
A few years after the marriage of Ansel Rice, he moved with his fandi- ly to Ohio, going the entire distance with an ox team, with which he carii- ed his family and some furniture. A cow was tied to the wagon, which furnished milk during the jomny. The family usually slept in the wagon, occasionally putting up at a private house. On the morning of their departure, their neighbors for quite a distance assembled to leave parting congratulations, making as much capital of the event as a pres- idential party would at the present day.
88
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
At the organization of the first Sunday school in June, 1820, Thon.as Longley was superintendent, and among the teachers were Dea. Lath- rop, Levi Eldridge, Ezra King, Theophilus Crosby, Judah Crosby, Fitch Wood, Joshua Longley. Noah Joy was clerk; his duties being to keep n record of the scripture verses committed and recited by euch scholar. The reward was a four page tract for each forty verses repeated. A few years later, question books were introduced, and a library added.
John Hadlock was a carpenter, and for a large part of the time was away from home in the pursuit of that vocation. On a frosty evening in the fall of the year, when on his way home, in passing over a lonely portion of the way, he saw what he imagined to be a man, and on ad- dressing him no response came. "Are you man or the devil?" And still no answer. He was confident it was man; the form and outline gave him the fullest assurance. His next impression was to evade him by turning out of the road and pass by him. Finally summoning up all his courage and relying on his physical strength, (of which he had a good supply,) he approached carefully and then springing, seized a - stump! On seeing the place afterwards, it was revealed to him that a turn in the . road and a little opening in the forest beyond, gave the object the ap- pearance of being in the road, and imagination had done the rest.
Another circumstance showing the power of imagination: Horace Thayer made baskets during the winter season, and stored them in all stages of manufacture in a large open chamber. One time he had been away with his wife to spend the evening, and on their return a noise in the chamber indicated the presence of a burglar. The plan of attack was arranged for Mr Thayer to go up stairs, armed with a large club, and his wife to keep guard at the window in case of an escape. But on investigation their fears were removed by finding that the house cat had become a self made prisoner under an overturned basket.
IN OUR GRANDMOTHER'S DAYS.
Written by Mrs. Jernsha King in 1873, at the age of 84, and originally published in the Greenfield Gazzette. It was republished in a Worcester County paper.
I think that you would like to know How things were done long years ago, And I have lived to eighty-four And I can tell what people wore.
89
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
Men wore felt hats of coarsest wool, Boys wore buff caps to church and school, The la lies they wore pasteboard hats, Their muffs were made of skins of cats.
1 Men's clothes were made of wool and flax; They washed and shaved as neat as wax, They never looked like Esan's race, With hair that covered all their face.
The ladies they dressed plain and neat, In everything from head to feet; They never wore the thing they call A bustle, or a waterfall.
We spun and wove the cloth to wear, Or worked out in the open air, We pulled the flax and loaded hay, And helped to stow it all away.
To card and spin, and knit and sew, We learned; all kinds of house-work, too. To wash and bake, and churn and brew, And get up a good dinner, too. We did not live on pie and cake, As 'tis the fashion now; Our suppers, then, we did not take Till we had milked the cow.
And then we had our milk and bread, Our porridge made of beans, instead; Or hasty pudding, warm and sweet, And sometimes we had fish or meat.
1
Our bread was made of corn and rye, Bolted, it made our crusts for pie. We always had enough to eat, But very seldom any wheat. We learned to wash and mend our clothes, Our stockigns we could darn. Now, you can't find a girl who knows How to spin stocking-yarn.
Then, we worked hard to card and spin Our thirty knots a day: And when the week was done we had But fifty cents for pay.
90
HISTORY OF HIAWLEY.
When we had carded, then, and spun Our whole nine runs of tow, "Iwould only buy, when it was done, One yard of calico.
Of home-spun flax we wove our plaid For all our summer wear ; We made it neatly, and were glad To wear it anywhere.
We had no school house, in those times, But when the days were warm, Some one was hired to teach us all In father's empty *barn.
And when the time for haying came, All worked as they were able. The barn was filled and school was moved Into the clean, dry stable.
You see how hard it must have been For us to get our learning, then;
But all learned how to read and spell, And write, too, and we did it well.
We read our Bibles then with care, Each night we said our evening prayer.
We never were allowed to play Or work upon God's holy day.
And I am sorry now to say, That many disregard this day;
This holy day that He has blest -- The emblem of eternal rest.
And thus, in seventy years, or more, Great changes have I known; But of one thing now I'm sure, My life is nearly done.
*Esther Wood, afterward the wife of Zimri Longley, kept the first school in that part of the town in a barn built by Thomas King, still standing where his son Ezra lived. It was the first framed barn built in town, and was probably built before the incorporation of the town. When it was raised the help was insufficient, and several women rendered as- sistance.
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91
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE.
This was written in 1870. Subject, the old schoolhonse in the old seventh district. Since this was written the old house has been taken down and a new one built. It will vividly portray the youthful experiences of many who have gone forth into the world to struggle with the battles of life.
Erected many years ago by rustic hands, All faded and worn by the wayside it stands- With sunburnt, weather beaten walls which knew no paint, With roof devoid of cornice, and chimney stood aslant, With solemn looking benches, and blackboard three by four, With high old fashioned windows, and narrow cleated door.
Such was the theater of my young, ambitious pride, Sometimes ou mischief bent, sometimes for learning tried; Such was the place where schoolmates met from day to day, With lessons learned and heard all were intent on play; Such was the scene of many a grief and joy, Since first I tried the fortunes of the glad schoolboy.
Since then I've left those once familiar scenes, And sought 'mong strangers homes to benefit my means; But those teachers and scholars which I knew of yore, In my silent thoughts to memory appear, And when passing, I look with fond regret At the old school house that stands by the wayside yet.
For those youthful days were the brightest days to me, So free from busy care, from anxious labor free, That fain would I return, again to live them o'er, And pass the pleasant days of school once more; But, ah! stern duty calls me hence to roam, And to others I resign my childhood's home.
ORTODOXY VS INFIDELITY.
A contest that was fought out in Franklin County renewed in London.
A singular bit of history is in existence which most of the older peo- ple of western Franklin will remember. In the palmy days of the town Dr. Charles Knowlton from Ashburnham settled in Hawley and com- menced the practice of his profession. His fame as an advocate of ma- terialism and other views tending to atheism had preceded him, and the
92
HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
staid old orthodox town of Hawley was much excited, especially when it was known that he proposed to publish another edition of his "Fruits of Philosophy," for issuing which he had been imprisoned at Cambridge. A rivalry instantly sprang up between Dr. Knowlton and Dr. Moses Smith, the orthodox physician who had long practiced in the town. Each doctor had his strong partisan friends, and quite a number of fam- ilies named their children after their favorite physician. Col. Charles · Knowlton Hawkes, who recently died in San Francisco, Cal., and Col. Moses Smith Hall of West Virginia, who distinguished himself during the war as colonel of the Virginia regiment which did such efficient ser- vice in bushwhack fighting with West Virginia rebels, were both natives of Hawley and were named after Drs. Knowlton and Smith.
Rev. Jonathan Grout, the first settled minister in Hawley, was then living and visited Dr. Knowlton and tried to persuade him to abandon the publication of his book, urging among other reasons, that it was against the law to publish such a book. The doctor replied that he "didn't care anything about the law." Mr. Grout told him that laws were made for people who didn't care anything about them.
About this time Rev. Tyler Thatcher settled in Hawley as colleague with Mr. Grout. He was a young man of rare talent, with reasoning powers of a high order, an argumentative mind, and ultra-Calvinistic views in theology. A brisk controversy immediately sprang up between him and Dr. Knowlton, which resulted in a challenge from Mr Thatcher to the doctor to meet him in a public debate in the old meeting house. The challenge was accepted, the parties met and a great forensic battle was fought between the theism of the Puritan fathers and modern ma- terialism, Dr. Knowlton taking his turn in occupying the pulpit in the old church, from which, up to that day, nothing had emanated but the pure unadulterated theism of the pilgrim fathers. Mr. Thatcher was assisted by a man named Batchelder, who made it his business to travel the country and hold public meetings with infidels. A large audience gathered from the surrounding towns to hear the debate, and the result was the friends of both sides claimed the victory.
About this time Dr. Knowlton removed to Ashfield and formed a co- partnership with Dr. Roswell Shepard, and Shepard & Knowlton pub- lished the book, the republication of which has raised such an excite- ment in England. The town of Ashfield was at once divided into two parties, the Knowlton and anti-Knowlton. The Knowlton party was composed, not so much of proselytes of Dr. Knowlton's peculiar notions on materialism, as of persons who had faith in him as being a skillful physician, and who believed it would be better to let him alone, and al- low him to peaceably enjoy his own opinions, as up to this time he had made no attempt to make proselytes to his views on materialism. Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, the Congregational minister, made an attack on him from
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HISTORY OF HAWLEY.
his pulpit, in which he told his people not to employ Shepard & Knowl- ton, -- that infidelity must be crushed in Ashfield by withdrawing patron- age from that firm,- and it was proposed to put the ban of the church upon all of its members who persisted in employing them. Dr. Knowl- ton attended the church meeting and asked permission to speak, but as he was not a church member, that privilege was not granted him. He then published his famous "Letter to Col. Abel Williams, " a prominent member of the church who refused to withdraw his patronage from him, in which he maintained his right to disseminate his own opinions, if in doing so he di l not infringe upon the rights of others. He called a meet- ing of the citizens of Asbfield, at which he made a long address, ending by proclaiming his purpose to stick at all hazards, and support himself and family by the practice of his profession in that town.
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