USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Middlefield > History of the town of Middlefield, Massachusetts > Part 15
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C . WRIGHT
H
GEO. . CHIPMAN
FRANKLIN S. OLDS .
S.H
1
CHAS BILL
GW COTTRELL
CEM .
CLARK B. WRIGHT
·
·
G. W. HOWE
OSTON & ALBANY
HENRY. FERRIS
MIDDLEFIELD MIVELWANY
WESTFIELD
..
CHAPTER X
MID-CENTURY MIDDLEFIELD. 1815-1870
I N THE previous chapter consideration was given the eco- nomic phases of the life of Middlefield between 1815 and 1870, which resulted in the appearance of three distinct vil- lages with well defined manufacturing and mercantile activities. Coincident with the growth of the general prosperity thus estab- lished were developments in other directions not so obviously connected with the existence of communities within the township. In particular, the social, educational and religious influences of this same period demand attention, which, though less tangible, were no less vital in the life of the town, and in some respects were as notable as the more material achievements already described.
One of the early factors in bringing Middlefield more closely in touch with the outside world was improved transportation. Soon after the War of 1812 the increasing travel and cartage business between the Connecticut Valley towns and Pittsfield and the west led to a demand for a better thoroughfare from Springfield. Besides the Third Massachusetts Turnpike reach- ing Pittsfield by way of Northampton, Worthington and Peru, the most used road was the Hampden and Berkshire and Housa- . tonic Turnpikes, chartered in 1826, reaching the same point by way of Blandford and Lee. Both of these routes traversed steep hills, and both were notorious for accidents to stagecoaches.
As early as 1818 it had become known that an easy grade through the Berkshires lay through the "Pass of the Westfield" at the northern end of Mt. Gobble in Chester,-where the three counties of Berkshire, Hampden, and Hampshire meet,-and along the river to the mouth of Factory Brook in Middlefield. A preliminary survey of this route for a railroad was made at an early date, but such a proposition seemed visionary, and the building of the Pontoosuc Turnpike through this valley appeared much more feasible.
FARM OF DANIEL ROOT, AND MT. GOBBLE
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One question which caused some discussion was the location of the proposed highway between the mouth of Factory Brook and Hinsdale. The most level route lay north along Factory Brook through Blush Hollow and the corner of Peru while an alternative route continued along the West Branch through North Becket and the eastern part of Washington. Middlefield naturally favored the former location, which would have brought the turnpike within one mile of the Center. In fact the town voted in 1828 to build a mile of turnpike along Factory Brook "provided the Pontoosuc Turnpike is actually located and made from the mouth of said Brook and passing near the house of Amasa Graves1 in Middlefield and from thence to Pittsfield."
Unfortunately, however, Middlefield was the only town in Hampshire County through which the proposed turnpike would pass, and the county officials were frankly hostile to supporting a project which seemed to benefit only the adjoining counties. With prominent Berkshire men among the members of the cor- poration it was but natural that the route through Becket and Washington should be chosen. This decision had considerable significance to Middlefield when it is recalled that the Western Railroad later bought out the Turnpike Corporation in order to lay its roadbed along its course. Had the turnpike been lo- cated along Factory Brook, the railroad would undoubtedly have followed this route also, to the great advantage of the woolen manufacturers in the hollow and to the greater convenience of the Middlefield citizens generally.
But even though the turnpike only skirted the township of Middlefield, its superiority over former roads bestowed great benefit upon all the towns along its route. The enthusiasm with which the opening of the Turnpike was greeted is well indicated by the impressions of the Honorable Julius Rockwell, of Pitts- field, of his ride in 1830, immediately after the completion of the road: "From this place ( Washington) to Colonel Henry's in Chester, a distance of about twelve miles, the road is as per- fectly level as the most fastidious traveller could wish. The labor and expense of constructing the road and the wildness and pe- culiar beauty of the scenery are as wild and romantic as any which the great novelist of Scotland has described in that land
1 At the head of the reservoir where Samuel Smith, Jr., once lived.
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of mountain and song. The views richly repay the time and expense of the whole journey." The pleasure of this trip was enhanced by the comfortable coaches and excellent horses and the Pontoosuc Turnpike deservedly became a popular throughfare during the decade preceding the building of the Western Rail- road. From the car windows several stretches of this road be- tween Middlefield and Chester can still be seen, particularly the portion still lined with old maples near the Daniel Root place at the foot of Mt. Gobble.
In order to make greater use of this turnpike, Middlefield, about 1835, built two new roads. One of these was the present highway down the mountain to the Chester Valley, located somewhat east of the steeper and more roundabout road passing the Alderman and Root farms which had been a county high- way since 1784. The other new road was built by the county from Blush Hollow along Factory Brook in the same general lo- cation as the present route to Middlefield station. This road gave the woolen manufacturers and others a practically level route over which to transport their goods and raw materials in either direction. In fact, during the few years from 1835 to 1840, Factory Village was as accessible, so far as grades were concerned, as any place in western Massachusetts.
The opening of the Pontoosue Turnpike turned public atten- tion to the feasibility of using the West Branch as a water way through the Berkshire Hills. The great benefit derived from the Erie Canal in the cheap transportation of freight to New York City by way of the Hudson River gave rise to much discus- sion of a similar canal across Massachusetts. Several routes were considered, one of which, following the Westfield River Valley through Chester, Middlefield and Becket, was to have its sun- mit level at Pittsfield, and its water supply from brooks as far east as Middlefield. These plans were dropped, however, in the face of the more feasible project of a railroad with its advantages of quicker transportation, cheaper construction in a mountain- ous country, and less interruption to traffic through ice and flood.
As early as 1829 the success of the various short railroad lines which had been built in different localities in the eastern states led to the discussion of the project of building a railroad across
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Massachusetts from Boston to Albany. The principal reason for this discussion was the fact that if such a railroad could be built, a large part of the traffic which came to Albany from the west by means of the Erie Canal might be diverted from New York City to Boston for shipping abroad. That such a road would facilitate the distribution of western products throughout the state is evident when we remember that the people of many of the western Massachusetts towns, on account of the unsuitability of the soil and climate for wheat production, had to bring their flour from Albany to their highland homes.
The estimates of the rate of speed and cost of transportation of the proposed railroad in comparison with stagecoach travel are of interest. The trip from Boston to Albany by stagecoach could be made in two days, thirty-six hours of which were spent in hard travel. It was claimed that the railroad could cover the distance in twenty-two hours, a conservative estimate, cer- tainly, considering the six hour trip of to-day. On the other hand it was confidently asserted that the eight dollar stage- coach fare could be reduced, even making allowance for unfor- seen expenses, to the magnificent sum of one dollar and five cents a person, a judgment which shows little idea of the organization and equipment necessary for maintaining the twentieth century railroad.
Although incorporated in 1833, it was some time before the Western Railroad Company after considering a southerly route through Great Barrington finally took over the route of the Pontoosuc Turnpike. In surveying the location along the Westfield River Valley, as in the survey of the original turnpike, the engineers again brought up the fact that in crossing the hill ranges to the Housatonic Valley a much easier grade ex- isted by following Factory Brook to Hinsdale, than by the turnpike to that town, which lay through Becket and Washing- ton. The railroad consequently applied to the town for per- mission to lay its tracks along the valley of Factory Brook.
As the ultimate advantages of railroads were at this time by no means widely appreciated, this question brought forth a variety of opinion from the different classes within the town. The woolen manufacturers in Blush Hollow who naturally saw at once the great saving of cartage in having their wool
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and dyestuffs brought directly to their doors and their manu- factured goods, shipped in the same manner, were strongly in favor of the Factory Brook route. The merchants, also who were equally benefitted, must have entertained similar opinions. The average farmer, however, who did his trading mostly at the Center, and whose contact with the outside world seems to have been mainly through his relatives and friends who had left town to seek their fortunes elsewhere, saw in the railroad a menace to the youth of the town, luring them away to distant
os. r.
Deep Rock Cutting on Western Rail-road, 129th mile.
places where the conditions of living seemed easier, or furnish- ing them with an undesirable loafing place at the station, if they remained in town. He deemed it a sufficient improvement in his condition if he had to haul his produce only to Chester. Becket or Hinsdale instead of to Westfield, Hartford or Albany.
As the conservative farmers were greatly in the majority, the Western Railroad Company was denied permission to lay its tracks along Factory Brook, and had no choice but to follow the path of the Pontoosuc Turnpike through North Becket and Washington. On account of the deep cut necessary to lower the grade to Washington summit, the construction of the road
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over this route was much more expensive than it would have been over the Middlefield route. Even east of Middlefield so winding and narrow was the valley that between Westfield and Washington no less than twenty-eight culverts and bridges had to be built, in addition to the numerous cuts made through solid rock. The immensity of this undertaking may be ap- preciated in the fact that only hand drilling and black powder were in use at this time for blasting, so that progress was slow even though many employees were hired.
Descriptive of the portion of the Western Railroad through Middlefield, the following paragraphs are of interest : 1
"One mile of road between the 128th and the 129th mile-posts cost the company $219,929.87, and the whole mountain division 1334 miles in length, over one million of dollars."'
"Leaving this station (Chester Factories) we pass along through a narrow meadow for a mile and a half, and at 1271/2 miles, through a deep rock cutting, and immediately over a stone arched bridge, sixty feet above the river, we enter the mountain section. No language that we are master of could give the traveler any proper description of the wildness, the grandeur, of the obstacles surmounted in the construction of the portion of the route. The river is exceedingly crooked, and the lofty mountains, which are very steep and rugged, and of solid rock, shut down quite to the river on both sides, their sharp points shooting by each other, rendering crossing at every bend of the stream indispensable. In addition to this, the points of the hills must be cut away and for many miles these rock cut- tings and bridges follow each other in regular and rapid succession. The grade here is eighty feet per mile, and although the track is sixty feet above the river at the bottom yet so rapidly does the water fall that at McElwain's Mills, about five miles distant the grade is but 21% feet above the mill dam. Nor does the passing traveler, hurling along rapidly as he is, see much of the beauty of the mountain gorge. It is not until he has seen, from the base of these mighty structures of art, the passage of the cars, that their magnificence is really felt."
It is perhaps idle to speculate how different Middlefield would be to-day if the station were located in Blush Hollow instead of at "The Switch." There would in fact have been no "Switch" community, as all the mills would have been located along Factory Brook. Judging from the effects of the railroad on other towns of the same character, it is probable that the woolen factories would have carried on a somewhat larger business for
1 From "A Chart and Description of the Boston and Worcester, and Western Railroads" by William Guild-1847. Pages 54, 57, 59.
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a time, but with the general transfer of manufacturing activities to the cities and the larger scale methods of modern business, they would, in any event, like the mills in Hinsdale, have been closed or remodeled for manufacturing of some other kind. , The greater accessibility of the town to strangers from the outside would have had a stimulating effect on the social life of the community. On the other hand, the charm of the simple and quiet rural life which attracts the summer visitor who seeks to escape the noise and general intensity of city life would to a great extent be lost with the railroad trains puffing and rumbling incessantly up and down the valley of Factory Brook.
The temporary residence within the town of about a thou- sand immigrant laborers, who worked on the railroad and lived in shacks, created a social problem which the town of Middle- field was not backward in attempting to solve. The illiteracy of these people excited the interest of Deacon Alexander Ingham and he succeeded in securing the support of the town for two schools. One of these was located a short distance east of the arch bridge and the other near the foot of Mt. Gobble where a large colony of the laborers lived. The children were gathered in in, large numbers and much was done for their mental and spiritual uplift.
The genuineness of this missionary work elicited wide and favorable comment. When the laborers moved on to other towns. Deacon Ingham visited Horace Mann at Boston with the result that the educational work begun in Middlefield was continued in other towns. Deacon Ingham also went to Albany and in- terested Governor Seward and others in looking out for the welfare of the laborers in New York State.
By May, 1841, the railroad was opened for use from the east as far as Chester, and by August, as far as Washington. In December the opening of the completed line was celebrated by excursions over the route from both Boston and Albany. The locomotives first used were of the wood-burning variety, equipped with huge flaring smokestacks. The passenger cars resembled the old stagecoaches, with doors on each side and three seats in each. The conductor did not enter the car but walked on a rod on the outside, letting down the windows in order to take up the tickets. The rails were spiked onto wooden
OLIVER SMITHI, 2ND MRS. SARAHI ( METCALF) DICKSON AMBROSE NEWTON
PAIN LOVELAND MATTHEW SMITH, ESQ. SAMUEL SMITH
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timbers laid lengthwise and subject to displacement so that fre- quent stops were necessary while the trainmen ran ahead to nail down "snakeheads." Under these conditions the speed of the trains was about fifteen miles an hour.
The location of the Western Railroad over the path of the Pontoosuc Turnpike affected the prosperity of land owners in the southwest part of the town, now generally known as "Tay- lor's pasture." Through this region ran the original highway from Becket Center which crossed Factory Brook at Leach's Mills and climbed Jonnycake Hill. Along this road lived fam- ilies by the name of Herrick, Chapin, Millard, Beach, and others. While the Pontoosuc Turnpike improved the accessibility of this section, all communication with Becket Center as well by the turnpike was cut off by the railroad bed, leaving the Factory Brook road as the only means of egress. As a result no families are living in "Taylor's Pasture" to-day. The town of Becket built a new road from Becket Center to "The Switch," and all that remains of the ancient Becket highway of 1780, besides several short stretches now used, are the foundations of "Becket Bridge" and the parallel lines of stone walls winding up and down over the hills.
While the roadbed of the railroad was being built, the stage- coach line between Springfield and Albany, which had pre- viously passed over the Pontoosuc Turnpike, was detoured from Huntington to Hinsdale over the county road running through Smith Hollow to West Worthington and Peru. For a few years Asa Smith's house became a sort of tavern and regular stop- ping place for changing horses. In 1839 the coach from Spring- field reached this place every evening, and the Albany coach every noon. With the opening of the railroad, however, the picturesque era of the tavern and the stagecoach came to a sud- den end.
The railroad also brought a change in the transportation of the mail. In 1789 post riders distributed the mail slowly from Springfield which at that time was the only post office in western Massachusetts. Later, Titus Pomeroy, of Northampton, brought the mail on horseback from that town. Solomon P. Fitch, who lived at the Center for a time, is said to have been one of these carriers. Some years later when a regular wagon route was
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established between Northampton and Hinsdale, via Middle- field, the driver lived at Chester Center and made alternate trips to each end of the route twice a week.
In 1820 the government contracted with Enos Boise, of Bland- ford, to carry the mail once a week on a four day route from Hartford to Hinsdale through Middlefield, at an annual salary of $68.00, the stops being made at Blandford and at the ends of the line. This contract was renewed by Watson Boise, of Blandford, in 1832, at a salary of $140.00. Between Hartford and Blandford Boise drove a stage, but from Blandford to Hinsdale the trip was made with a sulky. With the coming of the railroad and the establishment of the Bancroft post office at "The Switch" came the daily mail service by the star route to Middlefield Center, and, in late years, the rural delivery from Chester and Hinsdale post offices.
The coming of the railroad brought about a revival of the ac- tivity in quarrying soapstone. In 1853 the quarries at the top of Smith Hollow Hill were taken over by the Metropolitan Soap- stone Company of New York City, which was incorporated with a capital of $200,000, a sum which was soon increased to $300,000. Two mills were established for sawing the stone into slabs which were used either for fire stones for furnaces or for facing build- ings. Some of the stone was also ground to powder to be used with oil as a lubricant or as a basis of soap to remove grease from cloth. In 1853 1,000 tons were quarried and shipped to the New York yard of the company where it brought about $12 a ton. The following year the output was increased to 1,200 tons, re- quiring a maximum of forty men to carry on the work. The distance of the quarry from the railroad station and the steep hills between eventually caused the expense to exceed the returns and the operations were brought to an end by the time of the Civil War. Rich deposits of soapstone still remain to be quar- ried whenever favorable conditions return.
A few years previous to the renewed operations at the soap- stone quarries Smith Hollow was the scene of another industry. At the foot of Smith Hollow Hill lived Addison Everett, a mechanic and eccentric inventor. One of his inventions was his dwelling constructed of a square central portion with box- like rooms attached at the corners, which was an object of
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curiousity rather than of practical utility. On Tuttle Brook, however, he set up a turning shop and developed a process for making wooden bowls which was far in advance for any process then known. There appeared to be a bright future for the business until the secret of the manufacture was stolen and used to his disadvantage elsewhere, so that the business in Smith Hollow came to an end. Specimens from his work- shop are still to be found in Middlefield households.
With the decline of the wool-growing industry the raising of fat cattle came more into prominence. That this branch of activity had been carried on extensively since the beginning of the century is indicated by the tanneries which were in opera- tion at an early date. The first and most prominent of these was located a short distance south of the Pease District schoolhouse on Meeker's Brook, which soon after became known as Tan House Brook. An early, if not the first proprietor, was John Metcalf, whose product was widely known for its excellence. His son-in-law, Alexander Dickson, later carried on the business
for a few years, and then sold out to Robbins and Handy who continued the industry into the late '40's. Another tan- nery, located at the foot of Glendale Falls, was operated by one Rutherford, and later by Prentice and Robbins, but was aban- doned about 1840. Here again the coming of the railroad. with its facilities for shipping live stock direct to the cities, no doubt brought about the abandonment of the tanning business.
Quite otherwise was it with the beef raising industry to which · the railroad seems to have given impetus. The Middlefield farmers were early interested in the improvement of their herds made possible by the importations of blooded stock from England, particularly of the Durham breed, but also of the Devon and Jersey. By 1840 a shorthorn Durham bull had been brought into the community from the pure bred Rensselaer stock. He was followed by "Roan Duke," purchased by Eldridge Pease from the herd of Mr. Thorne, of New York. This creature was one of the three bull calves sired by "Grand Duke"-a bull which had been imported from England at a cost of one
HENRY DICKSON
EDWARD KING
MATTHEW SMITH
JOHN L. BELL
HENRY HAWES
GEORGE W. COTTRELL, SR.
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thousand guineas. As a result the Middlefield cattle became noted for their excellence throughout the state.
It was primarily the development of cattle raising that led to the formation of the Highland Agricultural Society in 1856, and the fact that its annual exhibitions have always been locally known as "cattleshows" indicates the particular branch of agriculture which has been of the most importance in the community. Under the direction of a temporary organization of which Ambrose Loveland was president and Solomon F. Root, secretary, an exhibit of stock was held in September, which was attended, so it is reported, by "a large concourse of people." The following year a permanent organization was effected with Matthew Smith, president, Edwin McElwain, secre- tary and Solomon F. Root, Treasurer. Money was raised by an- nual fees of one dollar per member. Liberal premiums were offered from its funds and great interest was shown in the enter- prise. Peter Geer of Peru presented the society with a fine flagpole. Though the day of the fair in 1857 was cold and windy, 400 head of cattle besides a fine display of horses, sheep and swine were on exhibition. Chester furnished sixty-five vokes of oxen and steers in one string headed by a sturdy bull, decorated with bells and ribbons and ridden by a sturdy boy. Behind, drawn by all, came a large wagon filled with the musi- cians of the day, the Stars and Stripes floating over their heads.
In 1858 the society was fortunate in being presented with a generous parcel of land for its exhibition by Matthew Smith, the leading spirit in this enterprise. This land was not only situated conveniently near the Center but its location on an isolated hillock on the crest of the ridge afforded an unusually wide prospect of the multitudinous hills and valleys of western Massachusetts which, for visitors, at least, has been one of the features of the exhibition. To revive momentarily the memories of this and of other pictures of Middlefield scenery the im- pressions of President Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst College. in exploring this locality come naturally to mind :
"It is extremely exhilarating to the spirits of the tasteful traveler as he traverses these regions, specially in summer, to find such a constant variety of landseape attending every change of place. For every new hill he climbs, he is rewarded by the discovery of some new grouping of the distant
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